


#NewestWayne is trending folks

by FanFiction_Artist_Prototype



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Césaire Bashing, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Batfamily (DCU), Big Brother Dick Grayson, Big Brother Jason Todd, Big Brother Tim Drake, Good Friend Adrien Agreste, Good Sibling Damian Wayne, Good Younger Sibling Damian Wayne, Gotham City Police Department, Gothamite Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Long-Suffering Jim Gordon, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Deserves Better, Miraculous Side Effects, Miraculous Team, Other, Salty Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 84,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22818112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFiction_Artist_Prototype/pseuds/FanFiction_Artist_Prototype
Summary: Mari's not so pleasant reconnecting experience, courtesy of the Gotham Police Department.Or, the time Marinette Dupain-Cheng Todd thought it was a good idea to have her class come to Gotham for a trip only to wind up at a Gotham city police precinct through a strange and miraculous series of events in which she meets her half-brother and starts a Twitter hashing trend that's just about half true.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Cassandra Cain & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Ivan Bruel & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Juleka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Alix Kubdel, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Bruce Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Dick Grayson, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Jason Todd, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Lê Chiến Kim, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Max Kanté, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 1048
Kudos: 4322
Collections: Best of Fanfiction





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So in this Marinette is sixteen, putting this just outside the realm of Canon.
> 
> Ages are as follow:  
> Marinette and her class: Sixteen  
> Dick: 28  
> Jason: 25  
> Tim: 17  
> Damian: 13

Marinette wouldn't say she hadn't had _bad_ memories an out when she lived in Gotham, but she also wouldn't say she'd had _good_ memories about living there either.

Her birth parents had been...decent. Her mother was at work near constantly (until one day she didn't come back) and her father, well the less said about Willis Todd the better.

But her big brother? Now Jason, Jason was the best thing about living in Gotham.

Her big brother taught her to read and write, taught her some less savoury things as well like pick pocketing but trying times called for certain bendings of the rules, and took care of her even if it was hard for him to do so.

Especially when they'd ended up on the streets. They'd already lived in crime alley, but living as a street kid there had been different.

She guessed she was too young to remember the exact reason they'd ended up on the streets, but a tiny part of her said she didn't want to remember why and she didn't look into it past that. There wasn't much use thinking back on it.

After all, she'd been seven when her adoptive parents had moved back to France when Thomas Dupain-Cheng's father handed over the family bakery.

That's all that mattered about Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and her new parents were so happy about the life they had in Paris that she'd never had the heart to ask in depth about before.

But the memories of Jason stuck with her, despite the possible childhood trauma she was blocking out.

She hadn't seen Jason since the night social services had picked her and her unconscious brother up after someone called the police about a brawl involving kids in a back alley.

All she remembered of that fight was counting the money she'd managed to snag, the legal issues surrounding it at the time had been lost on her, then some people that had been vaguely familiar at the time cornering them and then being told to run as Jason swung at the older kids.

If Marinette ever found who'd called the police she didn't know whether she'd hug them in thanks for saving her brother's life or punch them for inadvertently causing her to be separated from her brother.

( _Half-brother a traitorous part of her mind said. Because it had been obvious from the day she was born that she wasn't the by-product of Willis and Catherine Todd._

_You didn't get a kid with asian features if neither parent was asian, it was common sense. Jason had never made the distinction though. She was always just "Nettie, my little sis. You touch her I break your jaw got that!?" to him._

_She was content to just be Nettie the little sister who's big brother would break your jaw if you messed with her. She didn't need to be anyone's daughter, as long as she was Jason's sister.)_

The memories she did have of Gotham sped through her mind as Mme. Bustier told her that that was one of the options for the class trip that she, as class president, was expected to help arrange.

Bustier's smile didn't reach her eyes and Marinette knew she'd be doing the whole thing alone.

She let her eyes say she knew exactly what shit her teacher was trying to pull and that she wasn't going to take it lying down.

Marinette had long ago dropped the sweet doormat persona she'd adopted growing up in Paris. Once people started accusing her of being a bully, of being horrible, of being an akuma instigator she'd channelled whatever remained of Marinette Todd - the six year old girl who'd survived crime alley if only for just under a year as a child.

She clawed and fought and bent but never did she break under Lila. Every time Lila spat some new venom at her Marinette refuted it, fact checked it and brought up evidence against the claims. 

Lila had declared war on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, quiet baker girl who's self-confidence was new and like a budding flower would be easy to crush under foot.

The witch hadn't expected Nettie Todd to be the one to answer the threat. She hadn't expected the raw unadulterated hatred and fear that had comprised six year old her to be unleashed.

Alya's screaming in her face be damned, Mme. Bustier's disappointment and lectures be damned. Most of the class abandoning her as she 'showed her true colours' be damned. Adrien 'take the high road' Agreste be damned.

If someone wanted to tear her down she'd show then exactly what kind of person they were messing with.

In all honesty she was surprised Hawkmoth hadn't tried to akumatize her more often with all the rage she just barley suppressed. Tikki making sure she never did anything she'd regret may of had something to do with that.

Sabine and Thomas were her parents, and when they saw her changing from the sweet little angel that Paris had created to reveal the Gothamite born and bred underneath that had arrived in Paris nearly nine years ago they'd pushed the issue.

They'd begged her to share her burden, they'd promised her any thing she wanted if she told them what was wrong.

But that didn't matter.

Because Marinette was prideful, and she was protective but worst of all she was paranoid. And with Lila's threat already coming to fruition with so called friends she couldn't risk losing the two people who had picked her up and helped her rebuild.

Not to Lila of all people.

Max, Kim, Nino (at the expense of his relationship with Alya), Juleka, Alix, Chloe, Adrien, Kagami and Luka hadn't abandoned her though. Kim and Nino were her childhood friends, they'd known her when she'd been forced to relearn her view of the world.

They'd been there while she learnt that sometimes kindness exhibited by strangers wasn't always a bad thing (though she never lost the sixth sense in the back of her head every gothamite seemed to have), they'd been there while she learnt what it felt like to not fear every street corner.

Most importantly they'd been there as she transformed from a six year old girl ready to fight anyone that looked at her wrong to the timid creature of habit she'd been before Lila came.

Being Ladybug was a good way to channel her emotions, to work out her frustrations and pin down the need to scream and harm. 

If she'd gotten less ladylike when dealing with akuma's nobody mentioned it. The harsher attitude may of been disguised by the akuma's own increased hostility.

"I can always ask someone to help you if you can't handle the stress on your own Marinette. I understand you're a very busy individual."

Mme. Bustier was an instigator of the vile toxicity that swamped their classroom, and she still didn't know if the woman did it intentionally or not. But right now it was very obviously intentional the way she was challenging her pride.

Marinette should of been mature enough to push the challenge aside but she wasn't. It was more so the fact that she knew exactly who would be asked to help.

The credit wouldn't go to her anyway, but she'd be damned if she gave any opportunity for Lila to actually use her when she could stop it.

She understood that it was a bit obsessive how she tracked her own actions, how she over analysed every interaction she ever had. But she'd given up caring when it reached the point where breathing in Lila's direction got some threat or lie rammed down her throat.

"It's perfectly alright Mme. Bustier. I have to set a good example after all don't I?"

She gave a smile of daggers to her teacher, knowing she was playing with fire but also knowing that the way she was playing meant she couldn't be sent to Mr. Damocles no matter how much Bustier and Lila wanted her to spend all day every day there.

"Quite right Marinette, now don't forget the information packet. When you make a choice on where the trip is supposed to go I'd like to see an essay on why you chose that location and your plan to raise the funds for the trip."

Nodding she made her way up to the back of the class and snagged her rucksack. Rifling through it quickly to make sure that it wasn't empty.

The last time she'd left it unattended Lila had one of her cronies empty the entire contents of the thing into the bin before closing it and leaving it where it had been before.

With the assurance that her bag wasn't missing anything of importance (phone, sketchbook, homework) she made her way out of the classroom, vigilante eyes darting everywhere to try and catch a glimpse of the girl she knew would be waiting for her.

"Nettie-bug, took you long enough." Smiling brightly, a rarer and rarer occurrence, she turned to see Chloe examining her nails while leaning against the wall next to the door.

She'd been just outside of her immediate line of sight, no wonder she'd missed her at first. The blonde girl gave her own sharp smile back at her before approaching her and linking their arms.

"So, were you listening in or did you and Pollen resist eavesdropping this time around?"

Chloe would be adamant that she didn't pout, it wasn't something the fallen princess of Francis Dupont would do. However Chloe did in fact pout. "We didn't eavesdrop last time, or this time for that matter. So tell me, what monumental tasks is being placed on your shoulders this time."

"Nothing much." She was lead down the stairs to the courtyard, "I'm picking the location of our trip _and_ planning the fundraisers for it. On my own. I can handle it."

The _not like I have a choice_ went unsaid.

And she could handle it. That was never the issue.

The issue was that their teacher was an instigator and a bystander that put her responsibilities onto a student she knew couldn't properly fight back. 

"My mother loves you Nettie-bug, I can ask of she'd be willing to put in a few more orders for the Dupain-Cheng cookies that Paris is not good enough to deserve."

The exaggeration, from Chloe of all people, had her laughing. Because if at the age of thirteen you'd asked Marinette if she'd be laughing while linking arms with Chloe she'd of told you to fuck off and stop taking drugs.

"While I think that would be lovely, I can't ask to take money from the profits. It's already going to be an uphill battle to get the class to not expect free bake sale products."

Chloe's features twisted into an angry snarl and Marinette saw Pollon discretely nuzzle the side of their chosen's neck in an effort to calm her down. "I'll never get the little pricks in our class. I'm the spoilt brat and I know not to expect enough free products to run a bakery for a day."

"Ooh, those are some fighting words there Chlo, sure you're up for backing them up?" She put a teasing edge to her voice and actually began to feel herself relax after the stressful experience of being in class when the day had to go from semi-decent to a pile of bullcrap.

"Marinette how could you!"

The now familiar phrase just had Marinette sighing, she didn't even care what was spewed at her this time. She just didn't want Chloe getting blamed for anything.

It was hard enough to keep the queen bee from sinking her nails into Lila's eyes on a regular basis, if the witch accused Chloe of doing something untoward she was sure she'd be stopping a murder rather than an attempt at disfigurement.

"Bets on what I've done now?" She murmured to Chloe as they stopped to let Alya and a blubbering Lila catch up.

In the beginning Marinette had simply ignored it and kept going on her way home. That had created two issues.. One, Alya knew where she lived and would follow her home and scream for the whole of Paris to hear what a bad person she was. Two, she had no idea what she would be walking into the next day.

This way at the very least she would know what lies were being spread about her when she turned up the next day.

"Five euro that you pushed her down the stairs again." Chloe's mouth barley moved in her peripheral and for a few seconds she could forget about the shit storm making its way over.

"Five euro? Fine, I get it you don't want to hand over your inheritance early but damn."

"To attention Neetie-bug the waterworks are bigger than normal." At Chloe's words her eyes napped forward to see Alya on the warpath with a bawling Lila being mollycoddled by Rose who looked torn at whatever the accusation was.

Marinette figured that at least from the flash of concern in Rose's eyes and the mouthed 'sorry' sent her way.

"Marinette I can't believe you! Even for you this is a new low!"

She really didn't have the patients for this, "And what have I done this time to injure Lila's delicate sensibilities?"

Next to her her blonde friend snickered and her pride flared as she made her friend laugh. That changed into protective fury as Alya's sour expression was turned at Chloe. With the way the other girl had been slandering Chloe on the ladyblog lately Marinette was ready to throw hands with her ex best friend any day now.

She just needed an excuse. Or Chloe needed to file a lawsuit for slander... maybe if she went through her mother she'd be more inclined to do it?

It didn't take long for the fury to be focused back on her again, once upon a time a still timid, still hopeful Marinette had grasped at straws, had begged to see a scrap of her best friend in the eyes staring her down. Now she narrowed her own eyes in challenge daring the other girl to spit her once stringing venom.

"What did you do!? How dare you act innocent when you told Mme. Bustier that Lila shouldn't be allowed on the class trip because of her misophonia!"

Oh, oh wow. Wow, Alya that- Marinette didn't think Alya could really be that gullible.

"Do you even know what misophonia is Alya?" Because Marinette did. The second Lila started throwing Tinnitus around as an excuse Marinette had been on the internet looking up health conditions to do with it.

"Of course I do- it makes her partially deaf! That's discriminatory behaviour, I don't get how you keep getting lower and lower!"

She gave Alya a lazy smile, "Really? Because the last I checked with the French health service misophonia is having negative reactions, i.e. disgust or fear, towards selected sounds. It has nothing to do with hearing loss."

"If Nettie had said anything to Mme. Bustier about her misophonia it would of been in Lila's best interests wouldn't it?" Chloe cut into the conversation, conviction drowning her words, "However, seeing as Nettie asked me to record her conversation between herself and Bustier so she couldn't make any mistakes it would appear you don't have a leg to stand on. Because neither mentioned Lila at all."

True, though Lila was implied... well that was more Marinette making assumptions on who Bustier was thinking of asking to help her.

Alya's face darkened and Marinette sadisticaly enjoyed watching Lila flounder as Rose stepped away and said she had been sure about that as well, citing her own mother's tinnitus. Claiming she'd gone along with it because she knew there was a condition that caused hearing loss with tinnitus.

"Still! You were telling Mme. Bustier-"

"You've already had a witness statement and been offered proof she didn't do anything Alya, back off." Nino's voice shut the other girl up in seconds.

Marinette had felt horrible at first for being the reason the pair had broken up, but after Nino explaining that if he had to be in a relationship where his girlfriend was constantly accusing him of cheating because Lila told her she thought he and Marinette had been on a date then he didn't want anything to do with that kind of relationship.

Her childhood friend stepped up to her other side, standing beside her in the face of this small time adversity. "You're supposed to be a reporter Alya, you're supposed to thrive on witness testimonies and physical evidence."

If she knew it wouldn't backfire exponentially on Nino she'd of linked arms with him as well. However, knowing that Nino still had some semblance of a social life in the classroom she refrained.

"Not to mention you should really be going to a teacher with those kind of accusations Lila. Why, it's almost as if you're worried the staff won't believe you." Even if Chloe had lost the bet Marinette was totally taking the girl out for ice cream.

The absolute lack of fucks in her voice was tremendous.

"Whatever. This is all hearsay Marinette! I know you said something to Lila!"

"Hearsay Alya? I take that to mean Lila's accusations are hearsay as well. After all isn't it ''Innocent until proven guilty.'" She turned to Chloe and then looked at Nino, "Am I forgetting another English phrase? I feel like there's more."

"Not that I can think of Nettie." 

Oh, she could actually see the smoke blowing out of Alya's ears when Nino called her by that nickname. She probably thought it was a pet name, completely ignorant to the fact that Nino was like family and as such given special nickname privileges.

"Whatever, let's get you calmed down Lila." Rose stood back as the pair stormed past them. When they left the petite girl apologised.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't stop her Marinette. I knew immediately that it was a lie but Alya wouldn't listen... It's been getting worse." Marinette had stumbled upon the fact that Alya had started blackmailing people for Lila by complete accident a half a year ago, "She said she'd give the band bad publicity and threatened to lie about Luka so he couldn't get into a good school if I didn't start acting like Lila's sick nurse if she felt ill."

"You're doing the best you can Rose." She'd initially been so angry about the whole affair, but now she just felt disappointed, more sad for the people suffering silently under Lila's thumb than actually angry for herself.

At the least Marinette's suffering was in the open, if an adult with a working pair of brain cells looked into the situation they'd figure out what was happening. But people like Rose who were protecting their friends, who weren't suffering for their own well being they were being left behind, ignored as they suffered.

* * *

"She said **_what_**!? That bitch!" Marinette watched as Alix paced back and forth in Chloe's room.

Marinette could hear the rest of their band of miscreants holler 'hear hear' off to the side. It made her feel slightly better about the whole exchange.

"Shes going to be out for your head tommorow Nino. Sorry."

Her friend waved his hand, "Ignore it Nettie. Not like I give a damn about what Lila says anyway, and besides I'm not afraid to sue Alya for defamation of character it she puts stuff all over the ladyblog."

"As lovely as it is having you call me out, let's get to the matter at hand yes?" Chloe's voice called out around the room and Marinette looked at one of the blondes leaning their heads on her shoulders. "We need to think of ways to fundraise because Nettie-bug here has already chosen our destination."

"Really? Where?"

She schooled her features, made her voice calm and didn't let emotion cloud her judgement as she took the step of no return, "Gotham city."

Nino and Kim's eyes widened as they looked over to her, shock clear in their gazes. She'd never spoken well of her home city, so they were probably wondering why she wanted to go there of all places.

"You're sure Nettie? Crime capital of the world?"

"I like to live dangerously," she attempted a smile but it fell flat, "Besides, it's been nearly a decade, figured I'd visit at least."

Paris may of been where she'd been primarily raised but it had never felt like home. Sabine and Thomas had been nothing but brilliant, they were her parents and her family through and through. But they didn't feel like home.

It was a bit of a childish delusion but she was curious if Gotham would feel like home, or if it was a child's delusion of grandeur as they tried to find their place in the universe.

"I feel we're missing something here Nettie-bug mind filling us in?"

"I'm originally from Gotham, I thought I'd visit when I was older but couldn't ever get the courage up. This is more an excuse than anything."

"..." It went silent and she refused to look at anyone. It was actions like this that caused the traitorous part of her mind to tell her that Lila and Alya were right that she was selfish.

"Doesn't Gotham have one of the most advanced inter-community projects in America though? And there's all the Wayne Industry buildings! I think it'd be cool to go." Kim's enthusiasm wasn't lost on any of them, and it made her feel better as he started to list a bunch of important cultural landmarks in Gotham.

All of them made the trip sound exciting, all of them made it seem educational. She felt a little less guilty.

"All opposed to going to Gotham." When she didn't immediately hear an objection Marinette starting looking around at her friends seeing none of them had raised hands.

"You're not being selfish bug." Looking to her right where Adrien was sat her partner gave her his chat noir grin, "Maybe we can lose Lila in the Ivy botanical gardens?"

"Not even Poison Ivy would want her as fertiliser." Her friends devolved into quips and dragging of Lila, which she once upon a time would of felt guilty over but had lost the will to care about at this point in time.

A cough broke them from their dragging and Chloe was bar key hiding a smile. "How about we get back on track? Fund raising?"

"We could host a charity auction!" Alix, as expected of the daughter of a museum executive was the one to prompt the answer.

"And what would we sell? Because unfortunately for us, Gabriel beat us to extorting half naked pictures of his son for money. The tabloids make more off them than we ever would."

"I did not need a remainder of that photo shoot Queen, thank you very much."

* * *

**@TrixxAin'tForKids** _When are we gonna have a new Wayne kid? #ItsBeenThreeYears #WayneIsLosingHisEdge #BeOnTheLookOutForTheNewKid #BlackHairBlueEyes #WayneFeatures #NewestWayne??_


	2. Chapter 2

It was a mess after that. Their group had a basic idea that all teenagers had when it came to earning money; sell something inappropriate.

The products went from selling shirtless pictures of Adrien, to them all collaborating and selling feet pictures on the internet that Max informed them (as the only one willing to dirty his search history in such a way) that after some quick research sold for a hell of a lot of money.

They didn't go for the feet pics option. Thank Kwamii, Chloe looked ready to kill her.

But they were dead set on selling something, Marinette feeling tired, emotionally exhausted and with a lack of patience only divine intervention could fix had finally snapped. "Why don't we just sell Lila on the dark web?"

She'd near regretted the suggestion after it left her mouth and yet her friends defended her, took it as a joke claiming that she would be sent back immediately. Nino even said nobody would pay high enough for her.

"You're misunderstanding. I never said sell her in one piece." Deciding to roll with it being taken as a joke she added more mirth to her tone. "She's not got much of a heart but it has to sell for something.

"Organ trafficking." Adrien nodded, a hand on his chin, "Interesting. I don't know any however, and I'm scared to ask Nathalie if father knows any."

"Daddy probably knows some, Sabrina's father probably as well." 

It took a few seconds of awkward silence for her to realise that she, Adrien and Chloe were all huddled and planning much like they did when they were in their alter egos. The blondes on either side of her didn't seem to care much for the situation.

"Sorry? Are we leaving you out?" Even after discarding her doormat personality it was still ingrained in her to apologize and to placate before anything else.

She hated that that was something she couldn't get rid of. It had been a tic she'd picked up not long after moving to France, the culture shock forcing her into a reclusive shell that she'd just about clawed her way out of now.

"I'd forgotten what it was like to see Nettie plan like this, it's been a while hasn't it Nino?" Kim's excitement was near palpable and Marinette had somewhat of a flashback to the time Nino had talked her and Kim down from potentially setting their primary school on fire.

-*-

 _**@DickGrayson** _ _Yeah, Dad, when are we getting a new sibling??_

_#ThreeYears!? #WayneFeatures #IHaveNewJokesAndMySiblingsWontListenToThem #IAmAAudiencelessClown_

_-*-_

After much deliberation they still hadn't figured out what to do for the fundraisers, but had instead decided to collaborate on the essay Marinette had to write to justify her location choice.

She understood it to an extent, with somewhere like Gotham on the list. But come on? This was clearly Bustier's job and responsibility and she simply couldn't be bothered.

Not to mention the packet she'd handed out for them to tackle (all seventeen pages of the damn thing) explained that she had to create an itinerary and attach it to the explanation for the location. So in effect Marinette had landed herself the job of a group of teachers.

For a few seconds she wondered what would happen if she went to Damocles and asked why she was the one tasked with this. His potential reactions flashed through her mind and none of them benefited her.

In fact, she was so sure of the lack of thanks for her effort that she'd set up a betting pool to see who got the most credit, Lila or Mme. Bustier.

"That witch reporter won't defend Nettie even though she knows for a fact that Nettie is planning the trip."

Chloe's agitation was heart warming if not frustrating, because she knew that the blonde would go to hell and back for her and yet she wouldn't do anything against the harassment against herself.

Every time Marinette tried to push the issue it was bypassed, or luck was on Chloe's side and they had to go face an akuma (she was starting to think Hawkmoth could just listen in on his victims after he'd akumatized them with the amount of cosmetic timings they'd had:

As soon as the belt let out signalling the end of school, three thirty one in the morning, precisely forty-two seconds past nine at night. The list went on, in increasingly dramatic and ridiculous fashion.

If she knew who Hawkmoth was she'd sue him for making her life miserable, _then_ take him down as Ladybug.

Not like she didn't have a good enough idea of who it was anyway, Adrien wasn't in as much denial anymore and was starting to point out things he'd noticed that just made the evidence they did have that much more damning.

As they sat around Max's laptop (they knew they all had phones but this way the research could be compiled into a document) looking up reasons to visit that outweighed the imminent danger being in Gotham caused she got to see how much it had changed.

Had it changed though? Or had growing up in the poorer areas blindsided her to the flourishing city itself?

Jason _had_ always gone on about how Wayne Industries was focused on creating a better tomorrow, both in Gotham and in the rest of the world.

"We have to go to the Heroes and Villains museum!"

Next to her Alix and Juleka fawned over the idea of going to the famous museum, Marinette cringed thinking of how poorly colour coordinated some of the outfits of the Heroes and Villains were.

She understood with the Joker it was an aesthetic but with the first Robin? What had Batman been thinking!? The protege had apparently not even been a preteen when he started and Batman dresses him like a walking talking traffic light?

She hoped to a the Kwamii's that it had been the young Robin that had decided on the costume because if it wasn't she felt she'd lose a lot of respect for the caped crusader.

Though her own costume wasn't exactly any better.

It was a good thing she'd made her debut as a daytime hero because she'd of been the laughing stock of vigilante hero forums everywhere if she'd debuted by stopping a night time mugging or something of the same calibre.

She felt Tikki pat her leg from where she was hidden and blinked back into focus, realising the conversation had already moved on from talking about the hero museum and they were now talking about Wayne Industries.

"They're always offering tours and stuff like that right? That could be a valid reason to go, it's like exposing us to international businesses!"

"Don't the Waynes have loads of foundations and stuff? I swear it was on the news that the company is trying to get european interest in their projects higher!"

A part of her told her she was a horrible person, leaving her friends to do the hard work while she floundered for a reason to visit that wasn't personal or selfish. It sounded suspiciously like Lila so she elected to ignore it.

"I asked Mr Damocles a few weeks back if he was interested in looking into a Wayne Foundation but he hasn't gotten back to me yet."

Her friends stared at her for a few seconds after she spoke, before Max grew a down right conniving grin, "Mari, you realise what this means right?"

When she didn't immediately respond the boy laughed, "Bustier is going to take all the credit for this, if 'she'," he made air quotes as he spoke, "Suggests it for a school trip, he'll look back at the offer and probably take it! It'd be beneficial for the trip as well!"

Taking in the excited words she could feel her own excitement growing in tandem. It was a solid plan, and she'd been trying desperately to get Damocles to sign up for a foundation.

Not only would it guarantee more funding for the school (and damn did they need it) but it would open up more opportunities for the students, making the school more well received.

And maybe in the future it could help remove the negative stigma surrounding the school, making people see it as a place of education again rather than a breeding ground for akuma's.

It wasn't likely, what with Lila being a student, but for the most part it was a solid plan. Marinette hated school, she hated the restrictions and she hated her classmates. But above everything else she valued her education and wanted those around her to have a good education.

A ping from her phone broke their attention away to the device resting precariously on her knee. Reading the header on her phone she was quick to open it, clicking on the new email after seeing the senders name.

Skimming the basics of the email she found a plan formulating in her mind. It made her _so_ angry that she was resorting to these lengths to get her classmates a trip to Gotham but so fucking be it.

"I have a way for us to fundraise." Not sparing a glance up she knew she had the rooms attention, "Jagged Stone just contacted me, he's just asked for two commissions, offered decent money for both of them."

She didn't need to elaborate and risked a look up to see fury in her friends eyes. The paranoid side of her called her out, cursing her. The prideful side of her told her to stick her nose in the air and lord the fact Jagged Stone just commissioned her over their heads.

She listened to neither.

"Bug, you are not seriously telling me you're going to give up commission money for the school trip? That's your money!"

She sighed as Adrien tried to convince her otherwise.

Since they'd revealed their identities accidentally (it had involved the idiotic blond next to her nearly bleeding out and Lucky Charm deciding to be fickle and not work for her partner, along with thinking he wouldn't notice if she patched him up at home) her partner had been just as protective in and out of the suit.

Not to mention Plagg. Kwamii, she'd thought Tikki was a mother hen she hadn't been prepared for Plagg nagging her about not eating enough, not sleeping enough.

It was true, but she'd felt incredibly called out and hadn't given him any of the special cheese she'd gotten the week prior just for him.

The betrayal on his face had been amazing. On a human it just might of caused an akuma. Which warranted a question, could Kwamii's be turned into akuma's?

She would assume no, being little mini gods she presumed they couldn't be influenced by each others power's (except maybe when it came to Plagg and Tikki but the two were meant to co-exist and keep balance so it wasn't really influencing was it?)

She listened to Adrien explain how they couldn't expect her to give up money she'd worked hard to earn, with the others chiming in, but it went in one ear and out the other.

They all knew the quickest may to a profit was selling things, fundraisers were all well and good if people actually wanted to see the end result come to fruition. Nobody would want Francis Dupoint kids to get a cushy holiday abroad - akuma breeding ground an all.

No, they'd have to legitimately sell things without telling people what the profits would be spent on, and what better way to do that than to just use her already existing business.

Besides, there was no other way to get enough for flights, hotels and activities through regular fundraising. Mme. Bustier was expecting a miracle out of Marinette and in order to bring it about she'd have to commit a little embezzling of her own funds.

If her savings account was a little dry for a few weeks after the trip nobody needed to know. Most of the class didn't deserve the money in her opinion, but the thing was if she didn't pull out all the stops everything that went wrong would be piled atop of the wealth of guilt trips Mme. Bustier had already forced on her.

She was considering stepping down as class president, but if she did that then it would only make Lila's assumption that she was an incompetent leader seem true and Marinette was lacking patients to begin with she didn't need more of that kind of carp on her plate.

There had been enough questioning of her abilities when it came to her decision to bench Rena Rouge- it had been from Alya so in all honesty she didn't give a damn but to hear the questioning of her abilities to judge character had hurt.

Thing was, Alya could throw a tantrum all she wanted, but Chloe had attempted and succeed to become a better person in her everyday life, and was twice the hero Alya had been because of it. Besides who wanted to fight side by side with someone who praised a liar and talked bad about you to your alter egos face not caring for the consequences?

Thinking back she should of told Alya that Lila was talking a bunch of crap. Alas, struggling 'please don't stop being my friend even if you treat me like crap' Marinette hadn't thought of that.

Hindsight. 

Wonderful thing, brilliant really.

She wished Master Fu had had it when he decided to pass on the responsibilities of Guardian to her. Because the old man knew her personally, _why_ he had thought she wasn't too big of a disaster to trust a box of magical artefacts to she didn't know.

"We need to raise money somehow, and here we have a legitimate way of getting a big sum of money. I have an account where the money for my commissions go into, I'll just use the money from there-"

" _You will do no such thing Marinette Dupain-Cheng._ " The bloodlust in Chloe's voice had a shiver ruinning down her spine.

The blonde girl was stood, blue eyes a wall of ice very quickly melting to reveal the blue flame that burned behind them, her stance was as intimidating in jeans and a t-shirt as it was when she was Queen Bee.

She glared down at her and Marinette went to retort, but was stopped by the other continuing, "If we're that desperate I'll ask my father and mother to pay for the whole damn class. I am **_not_** letting you waste your hard earned money on those grovelling brats!"

Hearing and sensing the toxic emotions from her friend she was quick to stand up, hoping to calm her down before Chloe had to scream and swear at Hawkmoth to 'fuck off when I find you I'll rip your legs off and shove them up your ass!' to stop herself from getting akumatized.

"Chlo, Chlo deep breaths alright? I'm going to touch your shoulders now alright?" She cautiously placed her hands on Chloe's shoulders, sometimes Chloe couldn't stand physical contact when she was angry sometimes it acted as a grounding action, "We're all good, breath."

"Its not fair though-"

"I know." She hugged her blonde friend, eyes watching for akuma's, "I know but you need to calm down. Getting akumatized will not help."

She noticed that aside from Chloe's angry ragged breathing everything was silent. It was psychologically tormenting these days to see someone experience intense negative emotions - everyone feared when the next akuma would come, when the next temporary death count would start, when the next time they had to pray that their fear wouldn't make the situation worse.

One of these days when she met Hawkmoth it would be times like these that fuelled her ineffable rage.

It would be the memories of her friends repressing their fear, their anger, all the toxic emotions that harmed them psychologically because some terrorist with nothing better to do decided to pray on the one human weakness.

Complex emotions.

"I'm just so tired of them all." It was murmured into her shoulder and she held her friend tighter.

"I know Bee, I know. I'm tired too, Kwamii I'm so tired." She kept her voice low, not wanting to disrupt the tense silence. After a shuddering breath from Chloe and no immediate akuma in sight she released her friend.

"Feeling better?"

"No." A hand was brought up to wipe at teary blue eyes.

"Me neither."


	3. Chapter 3

All perpetually terrified that their emotions were going to result in them becoming an accessory to terrorism, not much got done after Chloe's near meltdown.

Everyone had sat in a charged silence until the research had been finished and emailed to her, which was when she dared to break the silence that had settled to thank Max for his hard work. Thankfully when he'd given her a less tense smile and verbally said 'you're welcome' it seemed to make it okay to speak.

She hated Hawkmoth, if she wasn't just barley getting away with letting Adrien, Chloe, Lula and Kagami know her identity she'd of told the people in the room with her just to put them at ease.

As it was, one of the last things Master Fu had had her promise was not to unnecessarily reveal her identity. She owed it to her mentor at the very least.

Marinette could only be thankful that Master Fu remembered his tea shop, having only lost memories linked to the miraculous' and not his entire life since he became a guardian, so even if superficial she got to be close with the old man.

He was soon to be gone from the world and she wanted to spend as much time as she could with him before then. Even if it wasn't the Master Fu she'd known, Wang Fu was still an important part of her life.

Speaking of her identity, she checked the time on her phone noting that if she didn't leave now she'd never finish in time to not leave the table in a flurry and garner suspicion.

Sabine and Thomas had been far too lenient with her she thought, but she was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If they regularly checked her room they'd of realised she'd been leaving it at night far too often for any normal good reason.

Superheroing at the age of thirteen didn't seem like a good reason, at fourteen it hadn't seemed like a better thing to spring on them, at fifteen she realised they'd probably flip for her hiding it for so long and now at sixteen she was just glad they let her get away with shit like going to sleep at all hours of the night.

"I need to go, my parents are going to start wondering why I'm not back for dinner yet." It was a well used excuse, one that didn't raise any eyebrows because they all knew she had a tendency to forget to tell her parents changes in plans until it was far too late.

It was just another quirk to add to the roster, not her growing ability to lie and create a believable situation before testing the waters with a blatant lack of truth.

Kwamii, she was going to turn into Lila at this rate.

Fucking kill her now.

-*-

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _Hawkmoth can fight me in the Francis Dupoint Lyceé courtyard, let's see how brave he is when he's in a fistfight_

_#LBIsCool #CallingHawkmothOutAgain #MeetMeInTheMoshPitYouCoward #HawkmothIsAFlithyCasual_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _For my sixteen years of life I've been tired, but the coffee hasn't killed me yet so, here I am, about to have another All-nighter!_

_#SleepIsForTheWeak #CaffeineAddiction #MidnightThoughts_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _Am I about to make bad decisions? Yes. Am I about to be surprised when facing the consequences of said actions? Abso-fucking-lutely_

# _IAmButAHumbleTeen #StudyingIsHardYo_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _Did I push Hawkmoth? No officer. He fell from the Eiffle tower by himself_

_#DoILookLikeTheKindOfWomanWhoFeelsFear? #HawkmothIsAFlithyCasual #LetsGetThatOneTrending #MeetMeInThePitYouCoward_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _Not gonna lie but I would sell my first born to see Batman fight Hawkmoth_

_#CanYouImagineTheFight? #ImagineTheBatReadingThisAndWonderingWhoTheFuckHawkmothIs #ImagineNotKnowingAboutHawkmoth #ImagineBeingHealthyMentally #Serotin?NotInThisEconony_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _Apparently my blank headshots look similar to the blank faced MDCT's headshots? Cool. Seems like a cool chic._

_#IsThisWhatInternetFameFeelsLike? #MDCT_

**_@MDCT_ ** _@NettieBringsDuPain huh, this is who everyone keeps telling me looks like me? Who knows, maybe we're each others stock photo model_

_#Doppelganger?? #NotRelated #SeemsLikeACoolChic #IsThatACompliment? #IDontSpeakShitPoster_

-*-

Sitting on her bed with her laptop in front of her Marinette couldn't find a way to focus on the essay she was supposed to be typing out. After completing patrol with her current miraculous team, finishing to do her homework before three AM she found herself in her current predicament.

There was too much caffeine running through her veins to sleep, and as a result she could feel every cell in her body trying to whizz off in different directions.

She hadn't felt this restless since becoming Ladybug. It was a tendency she'd always seemed to have, never being able to sit still in class, mind drafting half way through conversation, always needing to have her sketchbook and pencil nearby because sometimes she couldn't do anything _but_ draw.

Earning an alter ego had been a god-send. She finally had somewhere to channel her excess energy into, and nobody cared if Ladybug was sporadic and flitted from one thing to another quicker than a person could blink.

Ladybug was a hero, she was busy keeping them safe and keeping the Miraculous team (or Miraculous Court as she'd heard them be referred to as. It made them sound like faeries she thought) on track. It made sense for her to be all over the place in her down moments.

As Marinette it hadn't been as well received.

Sabine and Thomas gave her stress toys, bought her sketch books and didn't get angry at her if she drifted mid-conversation (unless it was important) and Nino and Kim growing up were used to it so weren't as bothered.

Her friends had grew to understand it was just something she couldn't control, there was too much energy in her body and unlike Kim who put all his energy into sports, Marinette just let it find an outlet through any form throughout the day.

Lila had turned that against her as well, pushing the laptop away she got out of bed and climbed up out onto her balcony. Once sat down with her back to the wall she watched the Paris skyline.

Lila had accused her of attention seeking, of only doing it when others were around because why else would she tap her fingers on the desk randomly, why else would she babble and then cut off for no apparent reason than to draw attention to herself.

The liar disregarded that she started doing the actions herself after somebody had foolishly said it was endearing hearing the tunes she would tap out at random.

From Lila the action was cute, it was endearing. Quirky even.

Kwamii she was going to bash her head into the wall. She spotted Tikki float up next to her and the little red goddess watched the pollution hidden stars with her.

When a cloud passed in front of the moon she closed her eyes and just lay in the silence.

Her thoughts drifted to how the stars had changed over the years for Tikki, and Marinette briefly wondered what the world looked like now to the goddess. 

Was it something worth saving?

Was their world of pain and suffering really redeemable for the near insignificant kindness and care they exhibited in comparison?

A thought entered her mind then, Plagg may of been destruction incarnate, but it had been creation that had caused the atom bomb, it had been creative passion that had led to murderers conviction for their crimes. It was creative thoughts that had influenced torturers on how to improve their trade.

Destruction decimated and removed things, things that were unsightly and in the end destruction was needed for new life. Creation needed destruction to level it out because otherwise it would run rampant, eventually destroying itself.

Tikki was incredibly terrifying.

All her life she'd wondered what it felt like to destroy everything, Kwamii knew her rage begged to her to find out, but now she wondered what it felt like to be the creator of a monstrous thing.

She wondered what it felt like to be the embodiment of something so disgustingly two-faced.

_**"Hello Lady Melancholy, my name is Hawkmoth and-"** _

"Shut up." She didn't bother to open her eyes, "Leave, I've had enough of your shit today, actually I've had enough of your shit permanently."

_**"I can offer you the power to destroy those that have wronged you! Do you not wish to have that power?"** _

She could feel Hawkmoth trying to needle his way into her mind, looking for a pressure point to twist her arm. He needed to leave before he found something he wasn't supposed to.

"I spent half an hour today in a room of teenagers all holding our breaths because one of us was upset, just waiting for your butterfly to come and hurt us." She took a deep breath, looking out at the skyline again and focusing on her school building.

Penny Rolling had said that when you were panicking having a point to fixate on was good, it helped keep you grounded. School was not a good place, but the building caught her eye and she flooded her mind with the architecture of the building.

She thought deeply of the locker room, how when in winter the sun would shine through the windows and create the perfect lighting for Nathaniel's drawings. Marinette forced herself to remember the layout of the first Lyceé classroom she'd ever been in. She let her mind slip away to think about the way the courtyard worked as a basketball court, a lunch room and an assembly hall.

Her thoughts focused on the art room she and Alix hid out in, the works of art sprawled across the walls even if there were blank canvas scattered because there was no way to contain the inspiration and raw potential that became unleashed in the room.

"I am tired Hawkmoth, tired of you and tired of life. But if you think I'll allow you to _hurt_ others you're wrong." She grit her teeth feeling him pushing more and more at the locked up part of her brain and flooded her mind now with pieces of art she'd seen in the Louvre's seasonal exhibits over the years, "So leave. I will not tell you again. You have no right to my head, and you have no right my anger."

_**"Think about it Lady Melancholy. I can feel your anguish, your fear, your OUTRAGE! Do you not yearn for an outlet? A way to unleash your fury upon the world!?"** _

He was getting desperate now, she could hear it in his voice. Soon. Just a bit more, "I do." A noise of joy from the other side of this mental connection, "It comes in the form of finding you and beating you to a pulp."

Sliver of fear shot through the connection, even to herself her words were vicious, seething, "And when I find you, when Ladybug and Chat Noir, Viperion, Ryuko and Queen Bee find you I'll be stood right behind them. Waiting for the second you're alone to give you your just desserts."

When there was no reply she continued, "Does that scare you Hawkmoth? It should. Imagine what will happen when everyone you've hurt, everyone you've killed and Ladybug brought back, can finally be angry without threat of an akuma."

_**"That day is not today Lady Melancholy."** _

"It will be one day, even if I'm an old lady when it happens I'll still be there. And my name is Marinette, the people of this city are _not_ your playthings. We have names, we are people. Now go."

_**"I see. Next time I will not leave, Marinette. Your festering emotions will cause you to break and I will be there when they do."** _

And like that she felt an overwhelming calm seep into her very bones and she watched as a white butterfly, purified all on its own, flew off into the night.

"Bye bye little butterfly." She absently waved the butterfly goodbye and sat there for a few more minutes.

It didn't register for a few minutes that she'd very nearly been akumatized, but when it did she looked down at herself, to try and figure out what could possibly of becoming her infected item.

Spotting her right hand with her new ring she figured that would be what it was. Her Mama had given it to her only a few weeks ago, stating that she'd noticed that most of her new clothing combinations were missing a defining feature, and has suggested the ring to complete them.

The simple black band had suited her, and in fact had completed some outfits that she hadn't quite been happy with. 

Chloe and Kagami had had matching rings soon after, so she could only conclude they were a friendship ring. Marinette had always thought friendship jewellery was exclusive to necklaces and bracelets.

She'd been wrong.

Kwamii she felt like shit. Running a hand down her face she noticed a lack of Tikki and wondered if the Kwamik had drifted back into her room to avoid being spotted by Hawkmoth.

That was probably for the best, Tikki would of tried to calm her down and she wouldn't of spewed at Hawkmoth like she had. Marinette had needed that.

Dragging a hand down her face she pulled herself up from the floor, bones creaking and a change in the direction of the wind had a chill running through her.

What an idiot, it was early morning and she was up with an essay she needed to finish so she could start on ideas to fundraise because she knew if she gave in the money from her commissions she'd be executed by her friends, and not to mention she was going to be late to class because of how tired she would be now.

Climbing back down into her room she locked her trapdoor to see Tikki sat expectantly on her pillow. "I didn't want to leave Marinette, but I could risk Noruu sensing me..."

"It's fine." Crawling back into bed she stated at the ceiling for a few moments, letting Tikki get situated under her chin before lifting her phone from where it rested next to her pillows.

The screen blinded her for a few seconds but she ignored it, opening a familiar app and started typing.

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _Guess who just nearly got akumatized?? This girl! I've officially had my first one-to-one with Hawkmoth and seriously? 0/10 would not recommended. His therapy advice was shit._

_#HawkmothIsAFlithyCasual #AkumatizationAwareness #AkumaWatch #HappyDaysAndDreamsGuys_

* * *

Marinette was thinking that maybe she'd been wrong about Alya being a bad journalist for not fact checking, because here she was reading though the Paris Times news report on her phone to see a video of _something_ floating down the Seinne only for the report to explain how it was a suspected water spirit from medieval French legend.

She understood that with Miraculous' flying around everywhere and people magically growing into akuma's (not to mention international heroes like Dr.Fate and Zatanna) that magic was becoming a more acceptable thing to believe in but come on.

This just looked like the Mayor trying to cover up Paris' pollution problem.

What she wouldn't pay to see Poison Ivy rip the Mayor a new one. However, she didn't want to see the consequences of a furious Poison Ivy becoming akumatized.

Saying that, could meta-humans get akumatized? Did their abilities become nulled by the akuma?

It was suspicious that they hadn't met a meta-human akuma yet. Especially with the fact that there were over one hundred thousand registered meta-humans in Paris as residents.

(Not that Marinette agreed with having to register yourself as a meta-human. That was how genocides started, creating lists and getting addresses of groups you didn't like)

At one point at least, they should of had one of them. It was a small percentage of the population yes, but still!

The one good thing about the past twelve hours so far was that she'd gotten her essay done. Her little chat with Hawkmoth had done her wonders, her biggest, and most important reason for going to Gotham was that so far they knew Hawkmoth's abilities weren't cross-Atlantic.

Meaning, she'd thought about putting 'drumroll please' in astrics on the essay but decided against it, that the trip would be a good time for the class to actually relax, to express themselves.

Marinette had the itinerary down pat already, half four was a very productive time of the morning, and her own personal copy had designated times to cry in them.

For example, her first port of call after getting into American soil was to spontaneously burst into tears. She'd get called an attention whore for it, a reoccurring nickname by now, but that was going to be her cool down session and nobody could take it from her.

She eyed the rucksack on the desk next to her with the documents in them. It would be foolish to leave them out on the desk be fire Mme. Bustier came in, because then Lila would mess with them no doubts or pass them off as her own.

So no, she was going to wait until Bustier came in to walk to the front of the room and LOUDLY proclaim she'd done the itinerary, plans for fundraising (well no, but the packet said Marinette had to discuss that with Bustier at a later date anyway) and the essay on why they should go to Gotham.

It was a waiting game, the room was empty right now which was both a risk and an advantage. However the first person in was not the person she expected to run all the way to the top of the stairs and push their phone in her face.

Sabrina had never been her friend, always Chloe's minion when the blonde had been a bully, and now she was one of Lila's mindless sheep. So it surprised her when the girl started gushing about how brave she was while showing her a video.

It was fuzzy but she could make out herself sat on her balcony, an akuma symbol over her eyes. She was glaring off into the distance and she could hear the person recording muttering about hoping she was alright before the audio improved enough for her to hear what shed said last night.

_"And my name is Marinette, the people of this city are not your playthings. We have names, we are people. Now go."_

There was a moment after that where the person recording swore before the akuma, it looked even weirder to watch the Akuma exit purified this time around than it had in real time, left her ring and fluttered off into the distance.

The recording cut off direct my after that. Good. No footage of her staring vacantly into the distance regretting her life choices.

Sabrina continued gushing, saying how _strong , how cool_ she was. It made her stomach twist in disgust. This was what Chloe meant when she said Sabrina grabbed onto the strongest force in the room and leached.

There was indisputable evidence right there on her phone that she'd forced out an akuma, no doubt Sabrina would see her as a viable replacement if her new queen bee died off.

Which, from the unadulterated look of rage on Lila's face as she entered the room looked to be fast approaching. Her luck wouldn't hold though, Lila would claim Marinette had sent her a suicide bait text (three weeks ago, she had to have her phone checked by the _police_ to make sure sure hadn't erased the messages. Thank goodness the force had promised to keep an eye on Lila's accusations after that) or something equally as horrifying and that was why she was having such a crappy morning.

"Marinette!" Oh joy, Alya. Again.

Sabrina, for all that she was a leech, for all that she bitched wasn't stupid. She changed sides at the time it would most benefit her, she knew Lila was lying. 

The girl just didn't care enough to point it out. It was proven as the ginger girl rolled her eyes and whispered a good luck to her before skipping down the stairs and sliding into her seat before Lila could accuse her of consorting with the enemy.

Her friends were entering in the room now, just a few more minutes.

Just until Bustier got there.

That's all that mattered. She could go home at lunch and get her Papa to claim she'd thrown up and stay home for the rest of the day. She just had to get through the next twenty minutes.

Twenty slow, excruciating, fucking minutes.

"How dare you let yourself become akumatized after what you did yesterday to Lila! She's right, you are just an attention whore!"

Marinette just rose a brow at Alya, enjoying the way that some of their classmates looked shocked at innocent little Lila. Lila's thunderous expression turned darker as she seemed to realise Alya was making the whole situation better for Marinette.

"I wasn't akumatized though." She lent back, the hand that wasn't on the desk creeping towards her bag. only twenty minutes, "The video of what happened is all over Instagram, I fought off the akuma."

Alya's mind was moving at a million miles an hour though, and barley glanced at Marinette's get out of jail free card before running it over, "But how dare you act like a victim after yesterday-"

"As we explained to you yesterday Alya, there are witnesses and physical evidence that disproves what you accused me of yesterday."

The room grew tense as they stared at each other.

Over the last year the situation had changed itself from Lila being the primary tormentor, getting in her face and lying about her every chance she got to the classroom.

Now there had been a power shift in the cult that worshipped Lila. Lays had gone from her most invested crony to her guard dog. A guard dog that lashed out and snapped its teeth whenever it's master so much as looked in her direction.

It was sad to watch actually.

She had to wonder if she'd ever been that desperate for friendship and recognition? Perhaps.

"That doesn't mean you have any right to let yourself be akumatized you selfish coward!"

' _And who got akumatized for being punished according to the school rules?_ ' she'd give anything to get away with saying that, but that was crossing a line.

As long as she stayed in the realm of facts, and left her opinions out of it it would be fine.

"Césaire, how about you stop being jealous that Marinette hasn't been akumatized yet because you want a legitimate reason to villanize her and go be a good dog and sit at your masters feet."

If Marinette wasn't so fixated on Alya's expression of being called a dog she thought she might just of leant over the desk and kissed Chloe.

Her friend was amazing, glorious, 10/10 would pay the world for. Behind Alya she could see her friends all standing ready to interject but the thing was you didn't get between the Queen Bee and the hive.

Not when the Queen was Chloe.

"Are you calling me a bitch!?"

Marinette was planning on pledging her potential first born to Chloe at this point. The blond raised an eyebriw, very very slowly like she was actually amused by the accusation.

"No. I'm calling you a animal, a very poor pedigree animal at that. It's your interpretation to take it as you being a bitch." The blonde examined her nails in faux interest, "it's strange that that's the assumption that comes to your mind first. The thought must be banging around in that skull of yours a lot for that to happen Césaire?"

"What is going on here?" Bustier's voice sounded out from the front of the room and Marinette tightened the grip on her bag before standing and scooting around the glaring pair of girls and jumping down the steps.

"I have the itinerary, essay and location you asked me to do Mme. Bustier. The packet said we can discuss fundraising at a later date so I didn't include it."

The woman looked from the folder Marinette had gotten from her bag, to her before looking to the mess of female alpha posturing she'd left near her seat.

Seeming to be too tired to deal with the mess in her room she ignored it. "Thank you Marinette. I knew I could count on you, we'll discuss fundraising tomorrow okay? Mr Damocles has to have this run by him first."

"Of course."

She could feel the stares on her back and she didn't care. 

One step closer to getting to go to Gotham. One more step to doing something she genuinely wanted to do in life. 

Now she just needed to see if she could get that Wayne Enterprise tour this late in the year.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey aunt Penny, have you got a minute? I wanted to run fundraising ideas by you."

She felt like she was crossing a line here, phoning her 'aunt's' personal number to have a conversation that was purely for personal gain and not to inform the woman about commissions or visits or anything remotely productive for the both of them.

However, Marinette had a little under twelve hours to figure out _how_ she was going to fundraise a trip to Gotham in a way that wouldn't have her friends stealing their parents credit cards to pay her back.

Chloe was the only one she actually believed would go with the threat. She was scared to test the idea, and even more abundantly terrified of Audrey Bourgeois coming to the bakery guns blazing.

Mama and Papa didn't need that. They had to deal with the eccentric fashion mogul when she was in Paris and personally came to order and collect the 'famed' cookies of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and she could see the drain of customer service was worse on those days.

Chloe's mother on the warpath was a devastating mental image.

The mayor had already proved himself to be pointedly unconfrontational for a politician, meaning Chloe got her 'fire and brimstone shall fall upon thee' rage from her mother.

It didn't matter how much Chloe claimed her mother loved her, Marinette was terrified of her.

The woman could blacklist her friends the fashion industry at the flick of a wrist! And she bought pastries exclusively from her family bakery apparently!

What if she decided she'd grown tired of them? What if she didn't like a product and decided to take it out on her!?

Okay, possibly over thinking - definitely over thinking- this. Audrey didn't seem _that_ vindictive when she met her the last time. The woman seemed to have a good opinion of her, and despite her...lacking parenting she seemed an otherwise semi-decent human being.

Okay, Marinette was just trying to find something to like about Chloe's mother now that the two were attempting to fix their soiled bond. She was trying her best for one of her best friends, you couldn't ask too much.

"No..no don't worry! I totally understand that you're busy. Just- just call whenever you're free?" She let out a sigh of relief when the woman promised to phone her in two hours before saying a heartfelt goodbye.

The schedule would probably be moved a bit and it'd more than likely be three hours than two but she couldn't ask for anything else.

She would accept any bone the world threw at her at this point! The Wayne Enterprise tour was her latest wait, and all it would take was an email to tell her if her planning was in vein or not.

Her phone pinging had her looking at the device to see an email from a Wayne associate.

It'd taken a bit of digging, but apparently it took having someone on the inside to get a late booked tour for the Gotham headquarters. Now, Marinette didn't have someone on the inside, she did however have her researching abilities and a lucky goddess on her side.

All it took was a bit of internet stalking and appealing from one Gothamite to the other and the lady had relinquished her blockade, saying she'd see what she could do. The email she was looking at now though looked _very_ professional.

_Dear Ms. Duplin-Cheng,_

_Here at Wayne Enterprise we normally hold firm to our required six month advanced booking requirement, where the trip you are attempting to book for is three months away._

_On any other occasion we would turn you group away, however, you have no connections to anyone in Wayne Enterprise, meaning that the associate you contacted was found through pure determination alone._

_After looking into yourself, you must understand the importance of background checks for anyone contacting a member of staff that has no prior connection to staff, we have seen your astonishing repertoire. Every few years Mr.Wayne himself offers free tours of the Gotham headquarters to three schools, national and international._

_Hopefully you can ascertain that this indeed means that your class has been selected for this trip, due to Mr.Wayne taking a special interest in you. Our CEO would like to congratulate you on being intuitive enough to get in contact with the woman who forwarded your email to Mr. Wayne himself._

_You see, you had inadvertently sent the message to Mr.Wayne's sec_ _retary. We hope to see you and your class on your trip! Attached are the details, including a printable confirmation letter you will need to have with you at the day of the tour and parental permission slips to attend the tour that you will also need to have in your possession._

_Yours Gracefully_

Rereading the email Marinette felt herself get giddy. She'd been hoping against hope that the tour would be possible, as it was one of the main points of the trip but this was beyond what she had hoped for.

Forwarding the email to her teachers school email she felt herself getting excited.

This was amazing- oh she couldn't wait for this trip!

Now all that was required was fundraising and with a victory like this under her belt Marinette felt like she could take on the world, nothing could stop her from coming up with a plan.

She'd get this fundraising plan done, run it through Penny when she phoned back instead of leaching ideas off of her aunt and kickass at the whole thing!

Yes!

-*-

"Nino, I hope you hold no grudge again at me for this, but I'm literally going to murder your ex. And Nettie I know you said to hold back but I'm gonna have to steal Lila's death from you." Looking up at Kim from where her head was resting on the table Marinette couldn't help but smirk.

Her childhood friends were stood next to her desk, blocking the view to the rest of the room so that the three could converse like old times. Old times going back as far as when they thought KMN was a cool group name because it went with the order of the English alphabet.

Alya was listening to an outrageous story of how Lila was dating _the_ Damian Wayne, having just moved on from a relationship with Dick Grayson Wayne - someone twelve years their senior. Lila seemed very proud of calling a known celebrity a paedophile, but seeing as she saw nothing wrong with telling everyone Jagged Stone had written a song about her when she was thirteen and the man was in his mid thirties it wasn't a surprise.

Through all this Alya was recording the girl, probably for the Ladyblog, which had transformed into a Lila cult forum. Thank goodness despite being an internationally accessible blog nothing massive had been put on it. Or that had been the case.

"Feel free, it's one thing to claim to date the youngest -who's thirteen by the way- but to claim she's been dating an adult?" Union's disgust was clear in his voice.

"I don't know if I want that on the blog. Because on the one hand it will ruin Alya's credibility - but on the other Gotham eats up gossip the same way Alya does, the story would run for weeks. The only paper that wouldn't run it is the Gotham Gazette."

"That's run by the Wayne's isn't it?"

Kim's question was directed at her, as she'd gone on a mass Gotham haul the past few days since she got the fundraising plans through she was no the resident expert.

"Yeah, the Wayne's have been a prominent family since well before they were businessmen, it was a Wayne who founded the paper itself I think." She waved her hand about sluggishly. 

Her caffeine hadn't kicked in yet. Accidentally her eyes slipped past her oldest friends to see Alya and Lila glaring at them from across the room. Well, Lila wasn't ' _glaring_ ' (" _She has a lazy eye Marinette leave her alone!" Yeah, because a lazy eye only acted up when she was looking at Marinette. Yep._ ) but Alya wasn't hiding it.

Thank goodness they didn't make eye contact. Looking to her friends she noticed they'd moved on in conversation. Spotting Alya on the move she was quick to warn her friends. 

"Don't look now but your opportunity is walking right up to you Kim." The Vietnamese boy took a second to figure out what she meant but when his mouth formed into an 'o' she knew he understood what she was getting at.

Nino's entire body just seemed to deflate. His relationship hadn't been the only one to end due to Lila's gossiping but it had been one of the more violent breakups.

By violent she meant Alya had slapped the bespectacled boy and accused him of cheating in front of the whole school be fire screaming in his face about how she should of known that anyone that associated with Marinette was a snake and wasn't to be trusted.

The irony of the statement was lost on no one but Alya.

The would-be reporter hadn't let her friend get a word in edgewise and everyone who had the unfortunate timing to have watched the altercation could see that there was a problem there. The fact that Lila hadn't even tried to hide her menacing smirk had helped with that.

Méylene and Ivan had broken up the day before, but Méylene wasn't too far gone in Lila's web to publicly humiliate the gentle giant. And so, everyone had only found out about the affair when Adrien had asked Ivan how his date had gone.

His ex-girlfriend hadn't been in the room at the time, thank goodness, because the boy looked a wreck. For the first time since Lila had started lying the tall boy didn't hesitate to accept the help Marinette offered him, extending a tissue and half a tub of cookies to the boy.

Everybody knew Ivan loved Méylene too much to ever cheat on her, though seemingly his girlfriend hadn't gotten that memo. Not even that though but the boy had sounded so heart breaking my distressed as he confided in her blond partner that his ex had claimed Lila had seen him on all these dates.

Lila.

No photographic evidence, no other person to verify. Apparently when he pushed why if Lila had seen him on so many dates she hadn't caught evidence of it, Méylene had taken it as a guilty deflection rather than a demand for the truth.

She felt she'd be getting a new ally soon. It soured her mood to think that it had taken becoming a victim for her classmates to see, and that Lila had decided to break up the sweetest couple in the class.

But that was for another time. She couldn't afford to stew because Alya was making a headway to Nino looking to the world like a woman on a mission.

It would of been intimidating if Marinette wasn't perpetually tired, and half aware that she just might be depressed. Alya was like a pesky fly that she couldn't quite swat away at this point.

The girl didn't even ping on her radar unless she got in her personal space. It was terrible to think, but Marinette was waiting for the day Alya got physical to prove a point.

Wether that was pushing poor Rose against a wall or pushing Marinette into on-coming traffic was left to be seen. Right now Marinette was hoping for the second option.

She didn't want to do their physics test third period. Maybe she'd jump into on-coming traffic herself. No. Paris was known for traffic jams, if anything the traffic would be moving so slow they wouldn't even need to slow down not to hit her.

A therapist sounded like a good idea. Might need to keep track of those intrusive thoughts.

"Are you ready to come to your senses yet?" Her once best friends voice was cold and filled with so much entitlement it made her cringe. The flash of 'dangerous' eyes in her direction with the girl caught the action wasn't lost on her.

There just weren't enough fucks left to muster a normal response. Thank kwamii she was too tired to flip Alya the bird.

"I don't know what you mean Alya."

It was watching an underfunded American teen romance movie. 

Alya pulled a face, like she was so confused by the entire situation - _Welcome to the fucking club_ she wanted to say to the reporter- before pressing onwards regardless, "Lila said you tested her saying you'd realised it was stupid to believe **_her_**."

The pure hatred spat out with the pronoun should of scared her, hurt her even. Alas, she was still far too tired and lacking enough fucks to care.

The past two days had been nice, Lila had apparently been restocking her barrages against her because the lies had only been about herself and not anyone else. Well, she supposed, she'd also set her sights on ruining Ivan so that had also probably lent itself to her reprieve.

"You don't need to pretend to care anymore Nino, everyone knows you've only been pretending to be friends so that you can try and stop Marinette for bullying Lila."

Tension covered the room, again, and she drifted her eyes to the window watching for akuma's. Kim shuffled to sit on the space next to her and seemed to be doing the same as she was on the other side of the class.

"And if you ever bothered to listen to anything I've been saying for the past year and a half Alya, you'd known Lila is a lair."

Her and Kim snapped to attention at that. Nino's tone hadn't changed by any specific degree, but after having known each other for so long the trip always _knew_ when something was wrong.

Her friend was reaching his breaking point. It took a lot for Nino to get genuinely angry and upset. She only knew of three times that had happened.

The first had been when they were little kids and she was still learning that Paris children didn't play as rough as Gotham children. She'd punched a kid if she remembered right, someone had said something about her being adopted and she'd snapped.

Nino had been there right at her side, pulling her off of her victim whole screaming his own piece at the victim, saying they were in the wrong and that it wasn't worth it to Marinette to get in trouble for them.

The second time had been the Bubbler incident. The third being the day Alya had broken up with him.

It spoke lengths about how unhealthy the current environment that the past three (they were counting this incident) times Nino had let himself be overcome by negative emotions had been at this school.

"Lila is not a liar!"

It made her agitated to see Nino so tense, but if she intervened it would only get worse...if she did nothing Nino could get amumatized though...

"Calm down we don't want an akuma being attracted!" Kim's words (bless him, he sent her a quick nod and a secret thumbs up. The K in their KMN always had their backs) seemed to connect the logical parts of Alya's brain to the rest of the muscle.

The connection would surely be lost in a few minutes but for right now it was there. "Whatever. When you're ready to admit that _**she**_ is in the wrong, know you can come sit where you belong."

Alya then turned to march down to the bottom where her seat was when she passed by Chloe, the smug grin on the blond's face and the ensuing squawking that left the reporter made Marinetteq feel unsure of whether she was pleased or highly tense.

"What did you say to her?"

"Just said a little greeting to our resident lap dog."


	5. Chapter 5

_**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _So now I get to shitpost from Gotham so like... if I meet the Joker what kind of shit should I say before he kills me? Vote below!_

_1.Cheese_

_2.You think you're the one that gets to kill me?_

_3.Don't fuck with me, I have the power of God and anime on my side!_

_#IfIOnceFeltFearItIsLongGone #OnlyInGotham #DeathComeToMe_

-*-

She wasn't exactly sure how she'd ended up here, but knew if she looked into it and really thought the answer should be obvious.

After all, there were only so many ways she could find herself outside a hotel (not the hotel she'd vetted, not the hotel she'd promised to get reservations at) a meer three blocks from Crime Alley.

Damn, she'd forgotten the sweet, sweet, taste of disappointment and existential poverty.

Lila's whining about not getting off the bus first could be heard from here, a good twenty meters from the bus. Which meant any criminals willing to poach the edge of their territory could hear her as well. She tried to give the poor residents of the city that spared worried glances at the bus placating expressions but they just sent her looks of understanding.

You didn't need to understand French to hear that Lila was a brat.

Oh. Oh sweet Kwamii on a bike at Christmas, Lila was staying in a hotel near crime alley - while still fixated on the lie she was dating one of the Wayne's.

(Three months, three fucking months down the line and she was still fixated on the lie.)

The class was screwed. Royally fucked. Dead as door nails awaiting the hammer and every other analogy she couldn't think of. If her impending anxiety didn't make her try her luck at jumping into Gotham traffic, a stray bullet supposed to be aimed at Lila she would be unceremoniously pushed in between to save the lying cow certainly would.

Was it bad she was sensing quite homicidal auras from the more devout members of Lila's cult? They were all so wrapped up in her stories, all so reliant on her being right she felt they were teetering at the edge of being violent.

And now that they didn't need to worry about retribution in the form of an akuma they had their opportunity.

She was starting to find herself quite thankful for fitting in a bunch of cry sessions into her itinerary, she was going to need them.

"You could of warned me Nettie-bug, now I have sunglasses and no sun." Strutting up next to her Chloe pushed her sunglasses up to the crown of her head, appraising the hotel with such an air you could tell she'd grown up in a hotel.

On her other side Adrien also took off his sunglasses, appraising the building also, but with something more akin to rich kid realisation than anything else. It reminded her heavily of all those crappy American reality shows where the billionaires kids were forced to live a normal life and they would call it Hell.

She laughed internally thinking about the fact that none of the Wayne children could be out on a show like that. According to her research Wayne had more than just Dick Grayson (and damn had Bruce Wayne adopted a lot of children! She'd only been gone nine years and he managed to have four sons and two daughters even though he'd only had one son when she'd left??

"Gotham sucks the sunshine out of everything, that's why you gotta make your own." She watched as her friends shifted closer to her, clearly noting the sketchy quality of the area.

It wasn't like they were in a lions den, not everyone would attack a group of tourist kids - however she knows that back when she and Jason had been on the streets her brother would of jumped at the chance to rob some tourists.

They mostly didn't know where they were going, were scared to phone the police and if worst came to worst they were too spineless to stand up to a Gotham criminal.

It's been said once and it would be said again, her class was royally fucked.

"Still Nettie, could of warned me. Besides, this isn't the hotel we picked out."

She nodded sighing as she looked around the area, for somewhere so close to crime alley it was...nice. Clearly an older area rather than a necessarily run down one. In fact, now that she was studying the architecture it looked older.

It lacked the Soviet brutalitarinism edge that a lot of Gotham's more modern quarters had, instead this area had a more Parisian style of gothic architecture. Victorian would probably be the appropriate term.

As always, gargoyles watched the city from above on the old buildings, briefly a memory ran through her mind, of counting how many gargoyles they'd walk past on their way to and from school so that she'd never stray top far.

_('Twenty five... twenty six! Twenty six Jay!'_

_'Wow Nettie, soon you'll be counting to a hundred!'_

_'So I'll be able to count how old you are?'_

_'You little shit!')_

A smile quirked at her lips. Kwamii she missed him. No, no getting sad, that was years ago - and she just had to cherish the memories of then and focus on making them now.

"Okay class!" Mme. Bustier's loud voice and even louder clapping of the hands made her nearly flinch. Did her teacher have to be so loud? The class was standing next to each other, a block down for goodness sake. "Let's go get checked in, after that we'll convince in the lobby and run through the plan for tomorrow!"

Spotting the rest of her friends behind her Marinette was quick to get them inside after Bustier, not wanting to risk a second being associated with Lila as she ran her mouth, making the sheep around her a liability.

It was one thing to lie to a group if mindless sheep, it was another altogether to say it where a two-face goon or Ivy henchman might hear you.

Hell, if a random street thug was liking their chances they might decide to pick up 'Damiboo's girlfriend. She wasn't sure who'd she feel sorry for in that situation - Lila for being kidnapped or the poor sucker who ended up having to listen to her go on with herself.

No, it was probably poor Damian Wayne. He'd have to deal with tabloids for _**weeks**_ after Lila left Gotham. Poor kid, he was barley a teen as well, he didn't deserve that kind of publicity. They'd tear the Wayne name apart for the youngest dating someone nearly an adult in comparison, probably accuse the patriarch of the family of being a poor father.

Huh, she'd forgotten all the play boy rumours that had surrounded the Wayne name when she'd been younger. She'd never understood what it meant and Jason had never elaborated.

"Alright everyone! I've randomly assigned your rooms come collect a key!"

-*-

 _ **@TimDrakeWayneOfficial**_ _Was anyone going to tell me that I'd just spent the past week without sleep or was I supposed to find out by looking at a calender?_

_#HowAmIAlive #CoffeeIsAGodsend_

-*-

 _**@CheekyCatPat** _ _Walking past the Gargoyles lounge hotel and a bunch of kids were going in, apparently they were staying?? Who lets kids stay there?? This one girl said something so motivational though??_

_'Gotham sucks the sunshine out of everything, that's why you've gotta make your own.' And just?? Girl, you're a kiddo - a munchkin- stop being so insightful. Who hurt you?_

_#OnlyInGotham #WayneFeatures #NewWayne #SunshineGirl #WholesomeOnMain_

_-*-_

**_@WillowCallers_ ** _I don't mind my job, but the newest French guests? Horrid. Poor sunshine girl (who's class president?? Teacher why are you putting so much responsibility on her!?) looked so tired! She apologized to the staff for what her classmates might do- lets see if I survive their trip._

_#OnlyInGotham #WayneFeatures #NewWayne?? #SheWasSoNice #SunshineOfGotham_

-*-

It had taken everything in Marinette not to stand up in the hotel lobby and pull her hair out.

First Bustier gave them their room key (she's on her own, which is...okay? She's not upset and she can come and go easier but it still feels isolating) while insulting the poor receptionist for being too slow.

The woman's twitching eye had given away that she understood French. After Bustier had decided to embarrass them that way she'd had to apologise, to which she'd then had to explain that _no she wasn't a teaching assistant, she's the class president and she's so so sorry that her teacher was so rude and-_

After that she'd gone up to her room and unpacked, quickly mind you, and made her way back to the lobby to wait for her class to return.

She'd spared a few more minutes to apologize again to all the staff for any potential behaviour problems her class would exhibit and then had to explain again that no, she wasn't an underpaid teaching assistant, she was just an ordinary student.

Once that had been taken care of, Maybe Ms. Callers (the lovely receptionists name according to her tag) was right and she should request a pay check for all she was doing, it had been a waiting game.

Any time the elevator dinged she'd turn her head to watch as either another visitor or member of staff exited. It took close to half an hour for Bustier to make an appearance, having changed and made herself look alive.

Lucky woman, maybe she should be doing her job instead. No, she reminded herself, bad Marinette. No need to be vindictive and angry. They weren't good traits.

After that her classmates were quick to make their way down. Her friends took up the couch she was on, all eight of them managed to fit on the three seater somehow, and the others took up the other couches with of course Lila at the centre.

Bustier took her time to gather everyone's attention after she seemed sure everyone was gathered (she wasn't doing a headcount in Gotham... Kwamii someone was going to die on this trip) and finally decided to start speaking. 

"Alright kids, tommorow be ready to board the bus at half nine, Marinette what time did the staff say breakfast started?" The teacher looked right over to her innocently, as if it was in fact Marinette's responsibility to pick up where her teacher failed.

At this point she was.

Ms. Callers had been right, she should be getting paid for this.

"Half seven Mme. Bustier."

"Everyone hear that? Breakfast is at half seven, we leave at half nine that leaves you all plenty if time to be lazy but still be ready to go on time!" Her teacher gave a bright smile, "We're going to Ivy Spirit park tomorrow to help with Gotham cities conservation plans, Mr Damocles said it was a wonderful idea as the Wayne Foundation that is helping sponsor our trip endorses the park!"

That one had taken awhile. Fighting tooth and nail she'd convinced her headmaster to take the foundation on, and it had in fact helped tremendously with the budget. The Wayne Enterprise tour had also played into that.

It was offered to the entire Scholl, but Damocles had had to politely decline saying only one class would be able to visit. Not that it mattered much, anything touched by the Akuma class (as people were starting to call them) was not going to be touched with a ten foot pole by other classes.

According to Aurora, a fellow member of the student council, the class that had taken their collegé classroom as they moved up to the lyceé had done a deep clean of the room to remove the negative energy that had ruined the room.

Marinette had noticed the stifling energy, but had simply thought it was her Guardian training (which reminded her of the Miraculous box upstairs hidden away in her suitcase) making her more attuned to negative auras.

To hear it was so prominent non-sensitivities were noticing it was alarming. Maybe it was residue from akuma's.

Whatever it was she didn't have time to worry, for now she just had to focus on the fact that Nino and Kim had flanked her as the class left the hotel to go to a restaurant Bustier had seen on the bus ride over.

And she could also focus on how her friends all seemed smart and stuck to the middle of the herd of their class, packed into threes so as not to be too exposed even within the thick of the crowd.

None of them let their guards down as they walked. Hopefully when they were in the thick of the city centre they could all relax a bit more but for now? For now the vigilance was a necessity, but that didn't mean she would ignore the closeness of her friends.


	6. Chapter 6

Considering the time they were making their way to the restaurant in peace, if she noticed the miasma lessening slightly as they got away from Crime Alley then that was only a plus.

Now as the Guardian of the Miraculous there was only so much Marinette could do to ignore the auras of those around her, to pretend to be ignorant of the miasma that floated around the city and her classmates. It would be difficult to act as if she wasn't in the know the longer they stayed here.

It was a dark city, with a darker history with the only figurative bright side being that slowly but surely it was healing. The Batfamily were illegal vigilantes but they were helping.

Helping more than she was helping Paris. She wondered if how they felt in Paris was how the people of Gotham had felt when it had started slipping under the miasma's hold?

Suffocated, trapped, eternally locked in a battle to keep their head above water even if they didn't know how to swim.

The thought made her cringe, but the fact that Gotham was growing, was clawing its way from the fog lightened her heart. 

If she noticed the creation magic that exuded off of her make a flower box bloom more as they past by it she elected to ignore it.

Even if she was only a visitor, and not a meta-human, the Bat himself had made it clear that he didn't want meta-humans running around using their powers in Gotham. He had nothing against them but meta heroes were not sanctioned to operate in Gotham without his direct orders.

That was all over the Justice League website ( _she would pay really really good money to know who had been paid to make and admin the site. It looked like a twelve year old boy had made it)_ and if she got caught she'd be reminded of that.

Not to mention the backlash she'd get for being an unregistered 'meta-human'. France was not forgiving to people who broke her laws, even those that protected her capital when the need arose. 

She could see the conversation in her head, Chloe standing there with her hip cocked to the side as she tried to convince her father to give her a pardon as they tried to miserably fail at telling the mayor why she couldn't afford to be arrested without giving her identity away.

"Hey! Watch it!"

A strong Gotham accent knocked her from her thoughts and she locked eyes on the scrawny kid that had knocked into Adrien who was stood in front of them.

Gosh, the gaunt face she could make out under the hoodie made her heart twinge. Paris was rather good at hiding its homeless, Gotham wasn't.

The kid looked about eight - Kwamii, she knew the kid had just stolen Adrien's wallet (it was so obvious, especially as she still used that technique sometimes if she needed to. She wasn't proud of her pick pocketing past times but if she needed information or to get her hands on evidence certain moral liberties had to be taken) but the kid quite possibly needed the money more.

...

Lila could do without her money right? She wouldn't use hers anyway and letting her get robbed would just speed up her making her minions buy stuff for her.

Okay, Ladybug would never do this but Nettie sure as Hell would so here she went!

Unblinking herself from Nino and Kim just before the kid passed them she knocked into them, grateful that her purse was in her bag underneath Tikki, and reached inside for Adrien's wallet as she felt the kid reach for her non-existent one.

The clash only lasted a couple of seconds but the kid fell to the ground and the class stopped. "Sorry! I didn't see you there, here let me help you up!"

It was funny to hear the reactions of some of the classmates that weren't aware that English was her first language. The kid patted their pocket (she still couldn't ascertain a gender but that didn't matter) and seemed to realise they were missing their wallet. 

A gawking look was sent her way and she winked, which earned her a look that was a mixture of awe and annoyance. Reluctantly the kid grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull them up.

"You should really be careful kid, never know who's gonna bump into you here do you?" Her accent was nearly non-existent but it must of been prominent enough for the other to recognise.

"...yeah, sorry missy."

"That's fine!" Smiling brightly she discreetly nodded in the direction of Lila who was holding up a fuss near the backend of their conga line of students. 

At least they'd stopped so they didn't lose her. "Tell your friends to be careful alright? We don't want any misunderstandings."

The kid appraised her, glanced to Lila and smirked, "Yeah you're right. I'll keep an eye out, you stay safe too missy!"

With that the kid, shit she should of given them Adrien's wallet what if they didn't get Lila's they were so thin, was saving and running past the rest of the class, swiping Lila's entire bag right there in public rather than just her purse.

The girl screamed, demanding that they go get her bag back and she could realise her mistake in telling the kid to go for Lila when she saw the fury rising in her guard dogs. 

Sweet Kwamii, they were about to go on the hunt!

With that she took off after the kid, followed by the howls of the cult, and noticed as he ducked into a alleyway. She posed as if she was out if breath and shouted to Rose that the kid had gone down the next alley over.

The hoard believed her and as soon as they were out of sight, a quick look over the shoulder showed the rest of the class comforting a distressed Lila or standing stationary next to Bustier like she was a rock in a stormy ocean.

Slipping unnoticed into the alleyway the kid had gone into she found them hidden behind a dumpster. New at this then, you didn't run into an alleyway when you were being chased and then stop.

Poor kid.

"Hey, kid, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm gonna come closer alright?" The kid, a little girl now that the hood had fallen back (her heart broke and roared and the Ladybug spirit in her demanded with the passion of its past holders to hurt who had caused such devastating injuries on this young child's face) looked startled up at her before nodding.

"I didn't mean for them to go after you, pretty gutsy to go for her bag. I never would of been brave enough for that." She'd never lost the knack for speaking English but it still tasted funky in her mouth almost.

"It still- still happened whether you wanted it to or not missy." Crouching in front of the girl she watched as she held Lila's designer bag close to her chest like a life jacket or some form of safety net.

"Yeah, I know. Can I sit?"

"What? And get your nice clothes dirty?" The words were spat out, New to the street but not new to city - well the accent should of tipped her off about that but her wariness and fearlessness spoken volumes.

She had venom in her yet, it pulled a sad smile at her lips. "Kid I've slept on these streets, my clothes are fine." And with that she sat herself down across from the kid who's eyes had blown wide.

"I...I figured you were just messing around when you- you're really like me?"

The past Ladybug's rose their heads in her soul once more, crying to protect the child, to free her from her pain. Marinette couldn't do that, she couldn't free this kid from her pain or what had landed her here on Gotham's unforgiving streets.

What she could do was let this little girl be a kid even if just for five minutes. 

"I'm guessing you're about eight?" She should be getting back but she didn't care. When the girl nodded she continued, "That's how old my big brother was when we ended up on the streets. I pick pocketed a police officer once to help us get by."

A spark emerged in depressed eyes, everyday Ladybug wasn't a title handed out lightly and Marinette had earned the title.

"A police officer?"

"Yeah, never do that. He caught me right away. They wear them on those annoying little elastic strings." She shouldn't be giving this kind of advice, she should be telling the kid to not rob, to find another way. She knew that sometimes there wasn't another way. "My brother got me out of that. Do you have anyone to watch your back?"

A shake of the head and her eyes darted around. Marinette shuffled back slightly so as not to crowd the girl. It must be scary, this probably wasn't the right thing to do.

The miasma must be effecting her. Sure. That would be what she'd go with.

"No. I- I don't want to talk about it."

"Understandable." She nodded, making a show of slowly pulling out her phone, "I'm going to look up some youth hostels if you want somewhere safe to go tonight."

"I'd like that." Then the girls mouth twisted, "What do you want in return?"

"I'd like to say nothing," mistrust started to seap into the girls vision, "but all I ask is you leave the actual handbag and the mobile phone with me. Take the rest of it, pawn it off."

"Why? She seemed like a bitch, she set her dogs on me and didn't even bother to come after it herself."

"Because that bag is fake and no reasonable pawn broker will pay good money for it." The little girl looked at the bag in shock, "And I know for a fact that bitch has track my phone installed. There's more chance of you getting caught if you keep it."

The little girls mouth didn't unfurl from a grimace but she opened the bag and began pulling anything that looked of worth from the bag before throwing it over to where Marinette had climbed to her feet.

"There. Check the hostels."

"Okay. My names Nettie, it's nice to meet you pixie."

"Pixie...?"

Checking her phone she shot a little grin at the little girl, "You're tiny, plus you can smell the girls a liar so you're a little fey obviously. A little Pixie."

"...I like that."

-*-

 _**@GuessWhatMyCatStoleNow** _ _Just looked out the window into the alley to find this teenage girl sitting in front of another little girl (clearly homeless), who convinced her to go to a shelter and take the stuff with monetary value so she wouldn't get caught._

_What? Kindness in Gotham?_

_I would normally say not in this economy but I was just proven wrong_

_#WayneFeatures #HelpingChildrenIsGeneticApparently #OrIsItLearnedBehaviour?? #NewWayne #Sunshine Child_

_-*-_

Emerging from the alleyway she managed to run to the ally where Alya and her frenzied companions were practically tearing the ally to pieces without being spotted.

"I found it!" She held the mostly empty bag high in the air (half hoping an acrobatic thief would take the bag away) and the hounds heads snapped towards her, "The kid ran into the alleyway I was next to, dropped the bag and ran when I lunged for her!"

"Finally!" Alya snatched the bag from her without so much as a thank you but the others gave her nods or thanks, Méylene looked apprehensive as sbe did but Marinette didn't care.

Her job here was done. Now she could only hope Pixie got to the shelter before Lila and her cronies spotted her.

Emerging just behind the rest of the group as they reached their abandoned classmates she hurried up to Adrien and linked arms with him as they all began moving. Keeping her voice low she used the hand for the arm that was linked to pass him his wallet back.

The look if astonishment on his face was near laughable.

"Watch your money next time Agreste. I might not be there to bargain next time."

"MY MAKE UP! THAT LITTLE BRAT STOLE MY MAKE UP THAT DAMIBOO BOUGHT ME!"

Rolling her eyes she kept her smile to herself as they continued. Quickly releasing Adrien's arm she slipped back into being between Nino and Kim.

"You let her get away didn't you?" Kim kept his voice low as he leant his head closer.

"Yeah, Nettie, there's no way you got that bag back with the necessities for Lila without chatting with the kid."

"Don't worry your heads about it. All you need to know is that the kids on her way to get a warm meal, one she's been lacking for a while now."

Even if she couldn't help Pixie properly, or even if she couldn't solve the homeless problem in Gotham or Paris at the least she'd made someone who needed to smile smile.

Because the thing was, even if the miasma was suffocating and Pixie was (alone, hurt, deserted by those ~~_**who were supposed to protect her, how dare they hurt the poor child**_~~ ) one of many children and people who suffered the fate of homelessness at the very least she'd smiled.

A smile could make everything feel better, even if for five measly seconds. Those seconds could be the difference between curling up in a chilling winter and letting the cold take you and pulling yourself off of your frozen limbs and finding the shelter to suck up your pride to survive.

...that...that was a strange analogy. She didn't remember the streets properly, not the specifics like where they'd 'lived' or who they'd worked for mainly, but she knew enough to piece together it was hell.

Had something bad happened in the winter? Possibly another blocked memory. Great.

She was a treasure trove of childhood trauma right here.


	7. Chapter 7

In Gotham less than twenty four hours and she'd pick pocketed someone, before helping a thief escape 'punishment'. Not to mention she'd adopted Pixie as her own.

She was most definitely blaming it on the miasma.

Marinette knew the chances of her meeting the kid again were slim to none, knew that it was a one off meeting and she shouldn't feel attached but she couldn't help it.

The gaunt, haunting look on her face, the bruises and swollen eye made her heart ache and pull as some distant part of her subconsciously remembered seeing a younger Jason - and so many other kids- looking like that with no one there to care.

Her actions meant little in the grand scheme of things, Pixie would either get caught next time or she'd end up having social services called on her when she got to the shelter. By the end of the year she'd of forgotten about Marinette.

There was no reason to get attached.

But damn it all, she was attached.

If there had been a way to make sure the kid got to the shelter safely she'd of done it, but Marinette wasn't about to transform into Ladybug in Gotham (no need to negatively alert _the_ Batman to her presence in his city.)

Magic never went down well in Gotham, teenagers running around without adult supervision even more so. Match the two and you had a seething Batman telling you to get a grip of your life.

Or so she assumed.

The reports of the Bat himself were few and far between. Since he'd collected a hoard of partners the Bat only appeared for the big guns according to her research. If you weren't dealing with the rouge gallery, or a literal terrorist, chances were you weren't meeting Batman in Gotham.

And if you did meet a vigilante it would be one of the Bat clan; Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin, Batgirl and Black Bat. It was all so exciting learning about the city and its protectors.

Having become a protector of a city she'd come to appreciate the stress, strain and strange satisfaction that came with protecting a city. Of standing upon the highest point and looking down and knowing that someone was thankful that you were there, of leaping from that highest point and knowing you'd be fine because you weren't going to go splat on the pavement.

That was the best part of free falling, the adrenaline spike. The tiny part that said you were going to die but you didn't. It was an otherworldly type of exhilarating.

Going back to reality though, the restaurant was nice; more a hole in the wall than an actual restaurant but it would be called whatever the neon sign on the roof called the damn thing and Chloe couldn't convince Marinette otherwise.

Bustier informed then she would be buying this meal and the last meal they had on the trip so they had better choose wisely. Marinette found it absolutely hilarious that the teacher had let a hoard of teenagers order without restrictions. If the woman had enough to eat it would be a miracle.

But enough of that, Marinette just focuses on shovelling the american food down her above all else.

The food is actually quite nice, the portions a bit big but her Mama and Papa have made sure she's used to larger portions, and the restaurant is cosy with a monochromatic art nouveaux theme that somehow worked despite the style being, _well_ , art nouveaux.

Glass windows behind her reflected the light from the street lamps in a fantastical way, which mixed with the dimmer orange lantern like lights inside to create a hazy atmosphere- she felt like she'd slipped into 1920's Gotham.

Taking a minute to breath she watched her friends and classmates, making sure to know where they all were in conjecture to an exit.

The 'Gotham City Safety Guide' Ms. Callers had given her scythe hotel said that that was something you had to be aware of at all times as a tourist, lest you fell victim to one of the cities nefarious masterminds.

Marinette felt her class was more likely to fall victim to a poorly trained con man than a criminal mastermind but she kept that opinion to herself.

She wished she could just enjoy her food and not worry but unfortunately that isn't a possibility. She doesn't think she'll relax on this trip until everyone realises that there's no miraculous cure here, and in that actions were permanent and held long term effect.

If somebody died they weren't coming back. Not this time.

None of them have quite grasped it yet, Adrien's complacency with his wallet and Lila's loud booming voice st and testament to it.

Her headache is getting worse. She takes a gulp of water and closes her eyes, falling into a technique Master Fu had taught her to help her deal with the strain of living just before the veil between the spiritual and the physical.

Levelling out her breathing she focused on her chakra, envisioning the luminous ball of pink and black that was settled deep in her chest. It took a slight effort to do it, but she managed to go as far as to differentiate that chakra from the cherry red one curling around it that represented Tikki.

From there she expanded her senses, focusing on her classmates and letting them ping on her radar as they did. When she got to Chloe and Adrien the differentiation got harder, having to really focus on separating their chakras from their Kwamii's.

Pollen's was a bright sunshine yellow, with Chloe's being a sickly looking yellow in comparison. Plagg's was an almost toxic looking green (it matched his glowing eyes) and it was curled protectively around Adrien's teal chakra.

The issue with Plagg's chakra was that it was slithering its way to her and Chloe, tendrils of the protective nature of the Kwamii extended towards them.

Plagg had explained that while they weren't his chosen, any time holders revealed themselves they became his surrogate kits because it was always the younger holders that couldn't keep a secret identity.

It was a sweet gesture, but annoying at times like this. The Kwamii's in general create interference that Fu had taken a long time to teacher her to ignore.

"Bug?"

Adrien's concern is obvious but she simply opens her eyes and blinks slowly, trying to get used to the world of embodied souls and not the grey soup world her guardian training had enabled her to detect.

"Huh?" She noticed the table wasn't silent, so that was good, but occasionally she was getting little glances.

"You were mumbling in the guardian language again." Oh.

Well that was embarrassing, that was a nervous tick she was definitely going to need to keep in check so that if she spoke it in front of those thickness her, while she was Ladybug, no one would get confused or figure her out.

"Sorry, just tired, didn't mean to worry you." She gives him a small smile, and that doesn't seem to be enough, but for now he disregards the topic, "So everyone how are you enjoying your time in Gotham so far?"

Her friends finish their discussions and look back over at her, retelling their favourite parts of the day like she wasn't there the whole time but she doesn't mind.

It's endearing.

"Apart from having my wallet almost stolen I think it's been a good day."

-*-

 _**@StMathewsChildrensShelter** _ _We'd like to thank the kind citizen who directed one of our residents tonight to us! Please folks, if you can suggest shelters to kids that are homeless we don't want anyone on the streets at night if we can help it!_

_#KindnessAwareness #ThankYouSamaritan! #StMathewsChildrensShelter_

_-*-_

_"That's why you let go of us!?"_ Kim's awe is nearly enough to have her preening but she doesn't, she doesn't want to seem like she's got anything to be proud of - if she does it will only gather unwanted attention.

"Yeah, I could tell right away she'd grabbed his wallet, figured I'd get it back for the poor fool." She nudged Adrien in the ribs softly as the boy covered his head and tried to pretend he wasn't there.

He was failing at it, tremendously so, but at the least he was laughing with them. She was thankful that he found it amusing now rather than devastating. "I still can't believe I didn't notice!"

"She was good, Pixie had skills." It goes quiet at that and she looks at her friends, seeing them watch her with confused gazes, "What?"

"Pixie? What kind of parent named their kid Pixie?" Max probably doesn't intend to sound rude, he does though, and its only from knowing him for years that Marinette can understand the question under the accusation.

"It isn't her real name, no idiot gives their real name out while looking like she did." It's mumbled, not quietly enough though, and she elaborates at the confused looks, "The kid had been clearly abused, she was covered in bruises and looked half starved, no way would she give her name out to a stranger."

She picks at her food as the air sobered up, the mood being ruined as she finished speaking.

"I guess Pixie works, she was small and seemed to disappear like she was never there..." The others start discussing the legitimacy of her nickname for the young girl and she snaps her teeth playfully at them as they 'taunt' her.

"Kiddo would of been better."

"No way, that's too generic, something like gnomeite would of bee good!"

"Alix tell me you are not insinuating that movie had any significance to pop culture!"

A bubble of laughter erupts from her and her appetite returns as she watches the people she cares about have fun.

They deserve it.

* * *

The trip back to the hotel goes by without incident, no more pick pockets and no goons trying their luck.

Unfortunately that means nobody trying to take Lila away, but there are always pros and negatives to everything in life. Besides, she had a theory she wanted to test while they were away from Hawkmoth.

Arriving back in the hotel Bustier told their class to disperse and disperse they did, with her leading the charge up the stairs because nobody with any brain cells still working was risking it in that elevator with the hound patrol.

Which was how she found herself tropping up the stairs with Ivan and Méylene awkwardly trying to hold a conversation directly behind her while the rest of their party tried to give them some semblance of privacy.

It wasn't really working.

This building had old architecture, meaning servant stairs, which meant echoing for days, which meant _bye bye privacy!_

Kwamii she was tried, if her thoughts got anymore sarcastic she'd have to force herself to pass out. She didn't know how long she'd cope with a personal figurative Chloe and Juleka on her shoulders.

Not long, that was her bet.

In the awkwardness she found herself fleshing out her idea in her mind. Lila's akuma's had been the more prominent ones, not the most devastating for sure but up there. Which was making her evaluate her previous statement.

What if they had fought meta-human akuma's before.

If she was right it meant Lila didn't have an obvious ability, but with how convincing the girl was she thought it was either psychic or phenomenal in nature.

It would explain the random and terrifyingly fast switches that the guard dogs made, going from laughing and smiling in one breath to be foaming at the mouth in the next. It would also explain the constant theme of illusion throughout her akuma's.

Marinette had just figured it was her subconscious calling out her lies, but if her theory was correct... if her theory was correct that would mean that Lila was a meta-human who could be controlling her classmates which, now that she thought about it sounded like something an obsessive bully clutching at anything to explain everyone turning on her would say.

Or a scared child who wanted nothing more than everything to return to normal, to have her friends back, a child hoping for the chance to forget and to convince herself that it was fine! Everything was in the past, even if above all else she knew it wasn't.

But! But, the thing is stuff made sense, how unless the person had previous belief that the lies were in fact lies that anyone would just lap it up. No matter how little care was put into manufacturing of the lie.

For now it was speculating, for now it was paranoia. But the thought remained.

Because if she was right then it wouldn't be that hard to fight someone with meta-human abilities if they got akumatized. Well, for the majority.

There were exceptions.

If someone like Superman were to get akumatized though? Then holy shit Paris would be rubble before she could say 'Tikki spots on!' They'd never be able to recover, the Bat would be worse. A shiver ran up her spine.

Seemingly unlimited gadgets, a tactical mind equivalent to that of a room of advisors and the fight skills to readily take on the Justice League if the need arose? Screwed.

And the Bat had such an aura that it was just common sense to assume he had some underlying trauma, or at the least some angst that would be targeted the second the Bat got within a few hundred feet of Paris.

Speaking of Paris, she would need to transform and contact Kagami and Luka to ensure that there weren't any akuma's to purify or that they didn't have any questions. The two new permanent holders had just started doing night time patrols and it would be time soon-

No. No it wouldn't, time differences. They'd be in the middle of patrols now, they'd of textured her phone if they had any questions of that variety. She'd still transform though.

She just needed to hope against hope that she wouldn't run into any vigilantes. It wasn't like she was going to go hunting down criminals anyway!

Gotham had a terrifying miasma and an aura of misfortune that stung her creation soul terribly, but it already had protection. If Marinette just ran down the block a few times nobody had to know or care.

If anything Gothamites would probably just assume she was a bat clan member in training taking her suit for a joyride. And if everything there was true but the fact she was a bat clan member who cared?

Marinette could feel her energy building up again, an insatiable need to do something, anything, arose so quickly and fervently it was off putting.

It had taken a lot to contain her 'annoying' actions all day. Particularly on the plane. Oh, the plane had been a nightmare, seven hours stuck in a metal container when all she'd been able to do was sit and draw.

Then when that had grew tiresome, she'd been able to watch a movie or play a game but for that last hour she'd had a bouncing knee problem. What she wouldn't give for a whole day without this restless energy.

She nearly passed her floor if she hasn't zoned in at the right time, and noticed how quiet it was apart from the sound of tears. Everyone was held back on the landing below her where Méylene had started crying with Ivan desperately trying to confront her.

A knife plunged into her heart as she noticed the tell take skittish eyes looking for an akuma from her friends. Taking two steps down to the landing she tapped Ivan on the arm and whispered to him, "There's no akuma's here, go let her cry."

The tall boy nodded, stone faced, and she started to direct the others around the crying once couple, trying not to listen to the small girl beg for forgiveness.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if this feels like I'm dragging the story out or not? Because I'm eight chapters in and other Gotham Trip AU fics I've read are normally well into the meat of the story by now...
> 
> Tell me your thoughts!

Once she'd gotten her classmates to their destinations she'd gone back onto the stairs to check on the two student's to see Ivan still standing tall, cooing to Méylene who was still apologizing for something she didn't listen to.

It wasn't her place.

With a quick glance to make sure the pair didn't spot her she continued up the stairs until she got to the top floor. She'd noticed from the outside that the top floor q as actually a greenhouse rather than a traditional roof.

Which was perfect for her, lots of greenery to get lost in coming in and out of the building, plus she could just use the excuse of finding inspiration in the plants to get away with being up here. She made sure to double check that the sign on the stairs said that it was accessible to the public.

It did, though there were opening hours. Hopefully they wouldn't lock it. Hopefully. Marinette's luck could only hold out so long.

"Marinette?" Opening her purse she let Tikki out, the Kwamii taking in their new surroundings before letting out a happy noise and darting around like there was no tomorrow, "Oh this place is amazing! Marinette can you feel it? Can you feel it! There's so much life here!"

A little smile twitched at her lips as she watched the creation goddess geek out over a rooftop greenhouse. Letting the Kwamii run (would it be considered flying? Seeing as Tikki didn't actually put her little nubby feet to the ground) amuck she decided to investigate.

The roof itself looked like a canopy style roofing, with the glass panes not having been cleaned since the day they were probably installed, the mildew and moss growing on them added to the charm though.

As expected of a greenhouse it was humid, though the perspiration in the air didn't seem annoying like she usually found inside greenhouses. Plants she recognised from Paris' greenhouses and one she didn't bloomed all around her, with a few trees here and there standing guard near the walls.

She didn't understand the logistics of having a garden on the roof like this, her terrace was different these trees had roots for goodness sake, but it was beautiful and she found herself laughing like a child as she hopped from fairy stone to fairy stone that was in layer in the 'earth' beneath her feet to get around.

Moving in deeper she found a little platform with a white metal table that had the same kind of style as the ones she'd seen in old chateau's in American period movies. Except this one was slightly rusted and had flaking paint in places.

It added more charm and as she approached and saw the slight dipping in the wood of the chairs surrounding it her grim grew bigger. This place had at one point been a shining jewel - a loved and adored place.

She could feel the powerful aura of this greenhouse, she forgot for a few minutes why she'd come up here and focused on how calming it was. 

"Marinette oh my gosh look at this!" Following Tikki's excited calls she made her way over and covered her mouth to stop her snicker leaving her mouth.

The little Kwamii was snuggling up against the dangling flowers of a Wisteria tree, the delicate bunch of flowers, a pale violet, a startling contract to Tikki's crimson. The Kwamii looked like she was high, pupils impossibly wide.

"I didn't know you liked Wisteria Tikki." Stepping closer she ran her hands gently against the flowers, feeling giddy at the delicate flowers flowing against her skin.

"Humans have always said it represents a warning against obsession or over-passionate love." She flinched remembering herself before she'd gotten over Adrien. They'd abandoned their romantic feelings on better terms than when they'd sat down to discuss them, "I love it because of that. It's such a pretty flower but it shows how creation is not just weak! This flower will kill to live, will destroy other plants to continue creating."

"You feel like it represents you and Plagg don't you?"

Moving to sit next to the tree she watched Tikki's delight grow as she didn't stop her from playing amongst the flowers, a delighted bell-like giggle escaping the mini goddess.

"Of course! It shows how creation and destruction are intertwined! The current miracle box is made of wisteria wood... It feels like a calling home."

She cringed again when a thought she'd been repressing selfishly arose again. Did Kwamii ever get a choice in being attached to a miraculous? Tikki had said that the Kwamii were older than time itself, so surely there had been a time they'd been free.

Did they ever wish they were free now?

As the Guardian these thoughts had plagued her for awhile. She'd meant to have a discussion with Fu about it, but the opportunity to do so had long since passed and it felt uncomfortable to summon the Kwamii from their box just to ask if they felt like slaves.

On the other hand if she knew how restricted they felt she could always make it so the miraculous' were open for the Kwamii to pass from this world to theirs freely. After all, as far as she knew the miraculous was an ever changing magical artefact.

It differed from holder to holder, Guardian to Guardian.

"Ah! I forgot! You wanted to go explore as Ladybug! I'm so sorry Marinette lets go-"

"It's fine Tikki," she waved off the Kwamii settling against the tree truck before checking her phone. It was nine pm, still early for the nightmares to rise from their dens, "We have time. Enjoy yourself, as long as we go before midnight I'm fine."

The Kwamii let out a cry that had her instincts setting alight before she got a cheek full of crying Tikki hugging her face saying how happy she was that she got to enjoy the plant that felt so much like home.

It didn't take more than her saying 'you're welcome' for the Kwamii to go flying off again, taking in her magical high as she zipped around flowery tendrils.

Resting her head against the truck she looked back to her phone to see a few text messages from her Mama and Papa asking how her trip was going so far.

Sparing one last glance to Tikki she started to send massive paragraphs to her parents, telling them in full details (that was a lie she omitted the part where she encouraged Pixie to steal from Lila specifically) everything that had happened. And when they phoned her, after she quickly asked Tikki to be quiet, she spent the next hour and a half explaining everything they were going to do, and ranting about how excited she was to go to Ivy's park the next day.

"Oh I remember that park from when we lived in Gotham, wonderful place really. It was set up so that Poison Ivy would lessen her attacks wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Mama, what else do you remember about Gotham? I remember fragments but nothing big like monuments or significant statues."

-*-

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _@StMathewsChildrensShelter glad to hear the kid got there safe and sound! Was really worried when I saw her today! If you can, please tell her Nettie wishes her the best!_

_#NotAShitPost #NotToBeWholesomeOnMainBut #I'veOnlyKnownPixieForThirtyMinutesButIfAnythingHappenedIWouldLevelGotham #HomelessAwareness #StMathewsChildrensShelter_

_-*-_

**_@WillowCallers_ ** _The lovely little French girl who's here with her class just found her way to our greenhouse and like? It's nearly midnight kid stop brightening up the place. Had to tell her to leave and she looked so sad!_

_#WayneFeatures #BruceExplain #AMERICAEXPLAIN!! #NewWayne? #Pure #GothamSunshine_

_-*-_

_"_ I'm so sorry Marinette! Now it's going to be even harder to go out- I knew I shouldn't of let you convince me to play in the Wisteria I am so sorry-"

"Tikki, take a chill pill. It's fine, accidents happen. Besides, it was nice seeing you so excited." The goddess didn't look convinced but didn't push the issue.

"It's good a thing you got your own room though isn't it Marinette? Otherwise this would of been so difficult!" She side eyed the Kwamii, noting the smug tone to the magical beings words.

What had she done now? Squinting at her like she'd immediately spill she bit out her own cryptic response, "Yeah, sure is _lucky_ isn't it?"

The little cackle she got in response made it clear her good fortune probably wasn't entirely natural. Not that she was going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Taking what she could get Marinette started doing a sweep of the room, something she should of done before talking to Tikki but she couldn't change that now.

Under the desk and the desk chair, under the bed, inside the wardrobe, the shower even the damn bin had its attic interior removed and searched to ensure that nobody was spying on her.

If she'd leant anything from Fu in her shirt time as his apprentice, it was to trust your paranoia. Anything this close to Crime Alley had to be under _someone's_ protection, and she didn't really fancy the idea of some random crime boss in Gotham knowing her identity.

Talking to Tikki, and the slightly cryptic way they spoke could be passed off as friends talking over the phone. However saying 'Tikki spots on!' would not be as easily explained, especially if a spotty heroine turns up.

Marientte was always one for dramatics, as a daytime superhero it was in the job description, however she didn't know is she had the capabilities to act her way out of that hole.

She'd rather just not dig it in the first place.

Once confirming that bugs, to her knowledge, were not present she and Tikki began talking logistics for her time in Gotham. Ladybug would not engage criminals unless absolutely necessary - which included the lack of police or vigilantes to solve the issue - and if she met any of the Bat clan she was to get the Hell out of dodge before they could try and question her.

She was so not keen on having a conversation as to why a Parisian superhero was having an adrenaline run over Gotham's rooftops unsupervised.

The odds of her actually escaping the bats in their home city if they tried to find her were slim and so Marinette would just avoid a confrontation to begin with.

Which was why they checked the surrounding window box holders to make sure no one was smoking (it was her classmate son either side of her but you could never be sure) before checking above and below her. Once that was done she took her time figuring out if the camera's were A) working and B) going to catch her coming and going if they were.

Figuring the answer to both A & B was no she quietly transformed into Ladybug before climbing out the window and jumping onto the ledge of the building next to the hotel.

Marinette liked to think she could of done the jump without the miraculous' help (after all her reflexes had started transferring over from hero life to normal life as had her abilities) but didn't intend to check anytime soon.

Balancing on the edge she realised it was a stupid spot to want to roof top run, there was barley any flat roofing on the block, or on the other side of the street.

...

Fuck it.

The limited ground space would help improve her dexterity and enable her to get better at free running overall. Plus, she could always use the her yoyo if there grew to be too little space.

-*-

"Hand over the money kid, you do that and maybe we'll put in a... _special_ word with the boss?" Dropping down onto a rooftop she creeper to the edge to watch as two adults, one male the other female, hunkered over an obviously scared child.

The kid was clutching a scruffy backpack to his chest like it was a lifeline and she immediately thought back to Pixie doing the same with Lila's hours prior.

"No! I don't- I don't need you anymore I have a family now!"

_'Bad choice of words kid... they'll go after them now if they know who they are.'_

The boy seemed to realise the same as her because his hands immediately jumped to cover his mouth and she heard the woman chuckle like she'd heard a particularly humorous joke.

"Family? Family kid, really? You're nothing but a government cash cow for them."

 _"Well that sounds like mother issues if I'd ever heard them~"_ dropping now into the alley just behind the man and woman she saw the boys eyes widen in shock at seeing her, before hope sparked in them.

He didn't know who she was, of course not, but he was holding out how she'd save him. So she'd answer the call, after all Gotham didn't need Ladybug but this little kid needed a helping hand and who was she to say no?

"Oh? Did batsy get a new kid or something-"

As the man turned she threw a punch, sending him sprawling from the impact and she put herself between where the kid ran down the alley and where the two goons (holy carp she was so dead they had two face pins what had she done) were stood.

The woman looked between her partner and her before looking at her getup and visibly cringing in confusion.

That slip up was all it took for her to swing at the woman as well, but this one was smarter than her partner and quicker as well because she'd dodged it. And got in a hit to the abdomen of her own.

Marinette, however, wasn't a thirteen year old desperately hoping that she'd get a lucky hit in and had already swung out her leg, kneeling the offending woman in the stomach before grabbing her head as she doubled over and pressed a pressure point on the back of her neck, knocking her out instantly. 

Settling the woman, who'd gotten a good shot in on her because damn she could already feel the bruise forming christ - these suits were supposed to protect her!, to the floor she walked over to the guy who was groaning and trying to pull himself to his feet.

"Now, we can do this one of two ways, you let me knock you out, or you pick a fight and still get knocked out."

"I pick the third option." And with that she discovered the jackass was actually far cleverer than she'd given him credit for (she might not be thirteen anymore but she'd become complacent and was more used to working in groups (and that would have to change. She couldn't afford to not be able to handle one on one combat as the Guardian)) and he slashed out with the knife barley missing her as she dodged back just in the nick of time.

The narrow nature of the alley ticked her off, but she used it to her advantage. With the other knocked out as long as she had her back covered she knew where all her enemies were.

It took a few more swipes of the blade, a few more near misses and a slice across the cheek she'd have to heal before morning but the other guy was down eventually.

Opening her yoyo she removed ziplocks from it, having stored them in the magical container space for events like this back home. Getting quick to start on tying their wrists and ankles together she barely noticed when the little boy made his way back to her.

"Wow...are you a new bat?"

"Nope, sorry to disappoint kiddo. I'm just a bug doing her nightly duties." She gave a soft smile, throwing up a piece sign and getting the desired reaction of making the kid laugh.

His body was violently shaking. 

"Let me call the police to come pick these guys up and I'll drop you off at home, or would you rather I drop you at a police station so that you don't have to go with a stranger?"

"Police station please."

"Okay kid."

Switching the yoyo's function to a phone she enjoyed watching the little boy stare in awe as she let him watch how she used it. "911 what's your emergency?"

"Hello?" Damn her accent sounded strange to her now as well, "I'd like to report an attempted mugging, and a possibly kidnapped minor. One of the local vigilantes covered the situation I just want to make sure the kid involved gets home."

Giving their location over to the call operator, after the kid watching her like a hawk gave it to her, she was asked to give her name. Now, she couldn't just give her real name or hero name so went with the one thing she remembered from crappy cop shows.

"My name? Jane Doe." With that she cut off the call and leant back against the wall as the kid stood straight across from her.

"Thank you."

"No problem kid, like I said just doing my job."

"But you aren't a bat...?" He eyed her sceptically.

"Gotham isn't my city, I'm just swinging by, my job is Paris."

They stood in communicable silence until the sounds of police cars pulling up alerted her to her timing to leave. "Wait!"

Already poised with her yoyo ready to swing her way back to the hotel she froze, "Yeah kid?"

"What's you name?"

"Where I'm from I'm called Ladybug, if the police ask I'm just some lady called Violet who saw Red Robin beat the shit out of these two face goons." Pulling on her yoyo she was shot off into the air, enjoying the feeling of being alive.

Taking aim at the next building she found herself suddenly redirecting and crashing to a roof as a gravely voice sounded from behind her. "Hey kid, mind telling me why there's a new vigilante in Gotham that isn't the bats?"

Looking over her shoulder she felt her blood run cold as she scrambled to her feet to be face to face with Nightwing and Robin.

Fuck!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for giving me your opinions guys! The reason I wanted to check was because I can kind of ramble my way through this plot because it's from Marinette's perspective and the other project on here I'm working on is a much more fast paced in depth character perspective so this is kind of a nice change.

_"Hey kid, mind telling me why there's a new vigilante in Gotham that isn't the bats?"_

Marinette found her footing, attempted to hide the slight tremble that was threatening to emerge. This time she couldn't pass it off as excess energy.

Letting her eyes dart around for a way out she took note of everything. The two bats were on the other side of the roof - _good_ , her mind spoke, _they're cautious as well_ \- and Robin appeared to have a katana at his side which... wasn't the greatest.

That gave him the mid range she was lacking, but if she just focused on staying away from the blade everything should be fine.

Secondly, the roof was empty, for all that she'd complained about a lack of flat roofs she'd ended up crashing onto the only one that existed on this block. Third, the greenhouse was at the opposite end of the block, a straight shoot, which also meant she couldn't run from the heroes.

She knew this would happen.

"Well?"

Her eyes snapped back to Nightwing and she could see his face seemed to soften as he realised she was terrified.

"I'm... I'm technically not a vigilante," Robin made a 'tt' sound but she elected to ignore it and brought her hands up in front of her so as to show she wasn't a threat, "I didn't go out after those guys, and it was entirely in self defence. I couldn't let them hurt that kid."

Tensions seemed to lower slightly, and she kept perfectly still, feeling Tikki's aura attempting to sooth her through their connection. "And the suit? What are you a Ladybug?"

Oh, good, Nightwing thought she was a joke. He was laughing at her, great. Good start. She was a laughing stock now, fantastic. Okay, ignore that because he literally looked like a cowl-less Batman rip off with electric blue accents.

"Yes." She nearly swore when the hiss entered her voice and the laughter stopped abruptly as they both stared at her, she took note of how Robin's hand had twitched to the handle of his blade, "That's the name that was given to me by the people I protect so I would ask you kindly not to insult it."

She kept her eyes trained in the younger out of them, from what she could see of his blade and from what she'd researched he was probably the worse opponent to face.

There were rumours he was a reformed child assassin, and the inky black _thing_ **suffocating** Robin's chakra proved he was not all he seemed.

Overall Robin was the more dangerous opponent and the way the boy shifted seemed to signify he knew she'd figured that out.

"And who exactly are the people you protect?" The younger's voice sounded fake, like he was attempting to make it sound deeper than it was.

"Parisians." She let it sink in for a few seconds, "I'm out of Paris on business, figured I'd get a run in before the morning. Decided to take the safe option and be in the suit so people would think twice be fire mugging me."

It was better to be honest, that way of they followed up her story nothing was out of place.

"Other heroes aren't allowed in Gotham without Batman's permission. That's standard Justice League protocol. Your mentor should of informed you about this."

Nightwing's voice wasn't as cutting this time, he probably thought she was some poor sidekick left to fend for themselves as a hero for the first time. Thing is though, she wasn't like the little Robin next to him, she didn't need an adult to supervise her.

"I'm aware." Her eyes flicked between the two heroes and she kept her hands raised even if all she wanted to do was grab her yoyo and make a run for it, "However as I stated, I'm not here on hero work. I'm in Gotham as a civilian and went for a run. Helping that kid was entirely by chance."

Robin tutted at her again and she felt her eye twitch at the rude action. Whatever smidge of respect he'd earned over the conversation disappeared.

He was on the young side, younger than her for sure and was probably an absolute brat out of the suit as well.

Normally shed have the patience to deal with someone like that but right now she just wanted to go back to her hotel room.

"How can we believe you?"

The question ripper a flinch from her, because how many times in the past two years had she had that screamed in her face? How many times has she had that questioned rammed down her throat?

That didn't matter. These weren't her classmates, these weren't once friends. This was a hero worried about his home.

She understood.

"You can look up Parisian superheroes; Ladybug, Chat Noir, Queen Bee, Viperion, Ryuku, Pegasus, Monkey King. There are more than just me."

They stood at a standstill for a few more minutes and finally she saw Robin release the grip he had on his blade, "She's telling the truth. If she were lying she'd have used our confusion to run away by now."

Watching as Nightwing's posture relaxed ever so slightly she risked a question, "Can I put my hands at my sides or would you rather I keep them in front of me?"

"What?"

"Its just my arms are getting tire holding them up but you two technically have control of the situation you know?" Kwamii she was rambling, "I mean I've already broken the rules by even being here so I don't want to true and do anything you wouldn't want-"

"Just...just drop your arms kid."

Nodding she did so and immediately began fiddling with her yoyo as the heroes stood in front of her whispering to themselves and over what she presumed was a communicator.

She could just yoyo away right now, but she'd have to go deeper into the city to try and lure them away and by then they would of had time to call backup and even more attention would of been drawn.

"We can't find anything about you or your fellow heroes on any database Ladybug." Her eyes shot up towards Nightwind and stupidly her hands twitched, with the older hero following the action, "So just who are you? The French government surely would of had a hero on record."

Half a roof away.

They were half a roof away and getting closer... time to run.

Spinning on the balls of her feet she performed a mad dash to the edge of the roof, releasing her yoyo and magically grappling it around a gargoyle without even getting to the ledge.

With little regard to her safety she jumped, barely stopping a scream from escaping when a bat shaped throwing star hit the sting of her yoyo and merely bounced off like it was nothing.

Thank fuck for magical artefacts!

-*-

 _**@SleepDeprivedAndTrying** _ _Just looked outside to see a grappling wire go pinging past my window! Some kid followed in hot pursuit by Nightwing and Robin flew past seconds later. It didn't seem serious? What did I just witness??_

_#NewRobin? #Bat Clan #BatClanSightings #Robin #Nightwing_

_-*-_

"This is bad!!" Her words were ripped from her mouth as she missed crashing into a wall by landing feet first and running along the glass before leaping off and swinging her yoyo again to get a new hold.

Behind her she could hear the heavy foot steps of Nightwing and Robin as they continued in hot pursuit. Nightwing called for her to stop behind her but she ignored it. Marinette had no idea where she was going, she just knew she was getting away.

Another bat throwing star ( _what had the blog she'd read called them?? Batarangs??)_ just missed her face and she landed on a roof before tumbling and clambering to run again.

No seconds could be lost. She had to lose them somehow.

This was making her anxiety race, it was giving her flashbacks to Heroes Day all those years ago when she'd had to run through Paris pursued by the hoards of akumatized people. This time though it was worse.

These people were trained. And one of them was an annoying brat who had a katana and kept trying to make her fall to her death!

Sliding under an AC shoot she let herself slide over the edge of the building, grabbing onto a pipe between the two buildings and hanging there stationary as she heard the scrape of Robin's Katana on the concrete roof above.

It was a fight to keep her breathing level and quite but she just barely managed it. A soft thud followed a few seconds later, and then Nightwing's voice followed. "You lose sight of her as well?"

"Yes, I do not understand how but her grapple wire did not even constrict when it was hit by a batarang." The younger boy scoffed, "It was not a normal wire, Father should be arriving soon correct?"

Oh fuck. She'd fucked up, she'd fucked up, she'd fucked up!!

The Batman? For her?? What the actual fuck!?

"Yeah, Bats needs to know if there's a unregistered metahuman hero running around Gotham." 

...

Metahuman hero?

"Yes. I too came to that conclusion upon using heat signatures to to try and find her, it was too low to be human."

"Never mind that she should be in the thermals with that kind of body temperature, it's not healthy. The poor kid may not even know she sin danger."

Oh. That's why.

The Ladybug miraculous made her body temp drop exponentially because Tikki didn't have anything above zero. Apparently it was because the goddess was an embodied concept rather than a living creature.

That mixing with the human body kind of made her a demigod? She supposed that was one way to put it. Or a vessel she supposed. The Ancient Egyptian's did think that Gods could visit and act through the bodies of humans so she guessed she fit that description.

But she was in such deep shit right now.

The Batman was coming!

Wait, she could just leave.

Yeah, she'd just leave and hope to everything that she didn't cross the Bat on her way back. 

Inching her way side ways on the pipe she got close to the wall, swinging her body weight forward to latch onto a pipe right across from her. Once she was supported by that she let her feet uncurl from where they'd been tucked up close to her.

They rested on the pipe below her just fine. Releasing the pipe above her she slowly and carefully sat on the pipe below, unfurling her yoyo from its place on her hip and throwing it towards a pipe which it wrapped around with minimal noise.

Dropping down she held on tight to her end of the yoyo letting herself be slowly lowered to the ground before touching down in the alleyway. Looking up she noted they hadn't seen her yet. 

Letting out a sigh of relief she turned to go down the alleyway away from the street when she came face to face with just who she wanted to avoid.

"Ladybug I presume. You're in Gotham unsanctioned, why?"

* * *

She was face to face with Batman.

She was face to face with Batman!!!

Oh shit what did she say!? What did she do!? He was going to kick her out of Gotham wasn't he and then what would she do? She could very well call Bustier and explain Batman had kicked her out of Gotham!

Damn it what did she- how did she explain this whole mess, she could breath oh dear Kwamii she couldn't breath she hadn't had a panic attack in years she couldn't remember how to calm down what did she do!? Why had she been such an idiot why why why!?

"Kid." Her eyes focused again and she was on the ground, curled against the wall and the Bat was stood across from her, speaking to her, "Breath. You're not in trouble, focus on breathing before anything else."

Nodding she tried to do just that, desperately trying to get breath into her lungs but it was hard with the Bat staring down at her. No! She had to breath! She was Ladybug!

Ladybug didn't get scared! Yeah!

It was only a tiny bit easier to breath at that, and the Bat didn't say anything else except encourage her. It was different than she'd expected but appreciated.

Finally getting her breathing under control she pulled herself to her feet, staring with wide eyes as the Bat stood across from her. "Calm now?"

Mutely she nodded.

"Alright, now answer the questions. You're Ladybug aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Why are you in Gotham?"

"I'm on a school trip. Decided to take a run with less chance if being mugged. Figured the suit would help." She gestured to herself at that, "I didn't mean to step on your toes or turf... it's just there was this kid and couldn't stand there and let some two face goons beat him up."


	10. Chapter 10

"You're here alone?"

This conversation was going far calmer than she'd expected. She tried to figure out her words quicker than usual though, the sooner she got back the better. How could she of allowed herself to be such a fool.

"No." The Bar's eyes narrowed, "Some of my team mates are on the trip with me, only two are currently active and they wouldn't don the suit unless necessary."

In order to keep calm she pressed her hand into the wall behind her, feeling the rough texture of the brick through her gloved hands and taking in the chill that ripped through her. It was a reminder of her humanity, for all the kwamii given abilities she was still just a fragile human beneath the suit.

"How do you know about me... The two up there said I wasn't on any files."

"The Justice League got an alert from Paris four years ago, about a villain called Stone Heart." Someone had called...on the first akuma someone had contacted the Justice League.

She didn't know whether to be grateful that they hadn't arrived and left a newly chosen Ladybug and Chat Noir in the middle of an even worse war zone because Superman had gotten akumatized.

"The call for aid was revoked because two heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, arrived on the scene. Oracle, who Nightwing and Robin would of asked for aid, doesn't have the clearance to read your file."

That was good...?

"You're a child superhero with no mentor to guide you, the League couldn't risk anyone finding out about you through us." Cool? "You would of been in greater danger if some young Leaguer decided to have a try at Paris' butterfly problem."

Ah, so the Bat had noticed the correlation as well. Maybe he wasn't as stone hearted as she'd heard. He seemed to understand why it would be a danger to have the JL near Paris.

"Where do we go from here?" The night was still 'young' and she didn't mind talking more but at the same time she could feel her anxiety winding up again.

... as long as she didn't let herself get too wound up again it should be fine.

The Bat appraised her for a few minutes, "You're not causing an issue, and you know you've crossed a line. Normally I'd personally escort you out of Gotham, but seeing as you're a child I assume you're staying in the city."

"Yeah, near where your clan found me."

Their eyes flicked up to where the fellow bats had been. She could still hear them. Though they seemed to be grumbling about why they weren't allowed in on the conversation now rather than not being able to find her.

Good for them, they'd finally noticed where she was.

It was silent for a few seconds longer before Batman seemed to come to some kind of conclusion. "I'll escort you to the block where your hotel is, after that you'll return to your hotel and won't be in your hero suit again."

"Understood."

She wasn't about to try and argue, this was the heartbreak she was going to get in this kind of situation and really, all she had to look out for was making sure the Bat left before she made it to the hotel so that he wouldn't know where she was.

If he did she had a feeling she'd have a shadow for the rest of her stay. Speaking of shadows she felt an unnoticed chakra hidden in the shadows nearby. It felt familiar in a way, like she should recognise it, and figured it was because it resonates like Batman's was, and like Nightwing and Robin's had.

This one had the ugly choking black goo surrounding it as well. 

"Could you tell your spy to stop hiding in the shadows though?"

A snicker erupted from her left as the mystery Bat merged from the shadows and she narrowed her eye, almost positive that she knew the sound but was unable to place it.

It drove her around the bend. This feeling of standing on the edge of discovery but not having the truth to push her those final centimetres to take the plunge.

"Your senses are sharp kiddo."

A shining red helmet was the first thing she took in. The guns at his waist were the next. 

"Not really, you're terrible at hiding Red Hood."

She could imagine the teeth baring grin sent her way as the vigilante spoke, "You've got a bite as well as your bark. Impressive. Well, seeing as I've done my part, it's time for Nightwing to hear from a little birdie what just went down."

The man snickered like he'd said some half amusing pun, and she had a feeling it was an inside joke from the way the Bat huffed in what at first glance seemed like annoyance.

"I'll be taking Ladybug back to her accommodation, I'm _trusting_ you to get everyone back on their patrols Red Hood."

The mere insinuation of trust made the older vigilantes spine snap to attention and she swore he was silently preening. Damn, touch starved much.

She internally cringed as she thought of how emotional touch starved she was currently. She hadn't let herself be hugged properly in months, the most she could get without turning into a puddle was linked arms.

-*-

Sitting in the batmobile was like a dream.

The interior was so sophisticated and advanced that she felt like she was in the middle of some science fiction movie, it took all her restraint not to touch anything or ask what every little button did.

If she noticed Batman discreetly try to hide the picture he had of the Bat Clan off of the dashboard she said nothing. It seemed the rumours of Batman being the father of the Bat clan was true.

It was quite sweet actually. In a strange, illegal family business kind of way. 

Hey, at least it wasn't like a mafia right?

... No. They had a 'Godfather', a child assassin and some information gatherer called 'Oracle' they were most definitely like a mafia. A superhero mafia, not that, that was a thought.

A very inspiring thought, she'd have to text Marc when she got back to the hotel with it.

The journey to the hotel should of taken a good hour but it took maybe twenty minutes, what with Batman breaking every speeding law known to Gotham.

If she were brave enough she would of made a joke about if he wanted to get rid of her so badly he could of just said. However the Bat didn't seem one for jokes and she'd spotted the boldly labelled ejection button before weighing up if it was worth it or not.

There weren't enough pros to outweigh the cons.

Once on the block she climbed out, bid the Bat a good night and used her yoyo to get herself to the rooftops, watching as the Bat did a few drives around the block before seemingly figuring out that she'd figured him out and catching the hint and left.

Good.

She needed to sleep.

* * *

Ivy's park wasn't what she was expecting, for a park dedicated to keeping an eco-terrorist metahuman placated it was poorly looked after.

The photos on the promotional add were out-dated it seemed. But at the end of the day Ivy's park _was_ gorgeous and the plant life varied and strong but... public watering fountains were left alone and stone fountains had been neglected and to left to collect scum.

It was as if someone had gotten halfway through making it a beautiful and then ran out of funding. She didn't understand, well, she didn't understand until she stopped one of the park handlers.

 _"The Joker and Ivy have been in cold war for months now- something to do with Harley again- people are too scared to come look after the place."_ And it only got more disheartening as she asked about the fountains, _"For a time we tried to grow Lillie pads, but some idiot poured salt in it and we're still trying to get it all out."_

So the park had, at one point, been a community hub; a place for people to do a good deed for the day and now two of the city's routes were arguing and everyone was staying away from a major threat.

A logical decision.

She just wished she'd known about that be fire having _her class_ come here. The class's miasma was nowhere near as bad as Gotham itself but it was extremely powerful.

And where there was miasma, there was great misfortune. She had hoped that her and Adrien being more in sync (as friends and as the black cat and Lady bug) would of helped sooth it in some way.

There had been no such luck.

All it seemed to do was keep it from rising drastically. The balance did what it was supposed to do, keep things balanced, it didn't make much of a difference if the scales had already been tipped.

"Where do you keep the equipment to clean the place? My class is prepared to help." She sent a smile to the handler hoping to convince him of her earnest.

It seemed to work because he was soon walking over to Mme. Bustier (after she had to again confirm she wasn't a teacher and was a student. Did the stress really make her look that old?) and used herself as a translator as he explained where everything was and what to do with all of it. It was slightly worrying that many of her classmates didn't immediately know what a trowel was.

Then again, not everyone had plants and they did live in the inner city area if Paris. But still.

Quicker than she had expected they were in the midst of cleaning the park. It became a game almost - mainly between Kim and Alix but soon others were joining in. It warmed her cold heart to see Rose laughing openly at Juleka's side again- with her friends and classmates seeing who could carry more water, who could trim bushes in the most exotic, unique way.

But it came to a stand still soon enough, with over fifteen students and a young adult running around they had done as much as their limited experience could allow.

It just so happened they managed to time it for lunch.

After being allowed to grab take away food ( _"Remember to make sure the packaging says it's recyclable everyone!")_ they all met up at a small raised pavilion of sorts, with architecture much the same as the platform in the greenhouse.

Even down to the flaking white paint and sunken benches. It seemed outside of its gothic gargoyles had a baby with Soviet brutalitrianism aesthetic Gotham also had an aesthetic to keep when it came to garden furniture.

Not only could Marinette respect that, she could also defiantly get behind the vibe it created. It caused the city to feel more alive.

Like there was some little red string dancing around the air, connecting people with places they'd never been before but would love nonetheless.

Maybe that was just the dying idealist inside of her. More likely it was the budding designer in her attempting to formulate a way to incorporate the entire thing into a design.

Actually... that string idea would make a good design. Ignoring her lunch for a few seconds she sketched the basic outline of a flared skirt and drew a few spirals before pressing harder on the paper to make the like darker as she connected the swirls on the design.

Next to the quick drawings she was quick to note down what exactly the feeling or basic design she was trying to capture was. She'd return to it when she had more time.

"I can't believe Marinette forced us to clean this park when not only does **_nobody_** care about it, but she knows full well about my arthritis!"

She couldn't get one day could she?

Maybe it would have been better if she'd let the Bat drive her out of Gotham. That way she wouldn't have had to put up with this shit.

Choosing to block the girl out, because how many times could you listen to someone claim arthritis and claim you were _so cruel_ for forcing someone to do something that they hadn't actually done. She decided now was the perfect time to finish her lunch and get back to sketching.

The flowers themselves were being a major point of inspiration, they were looking far better than when they'd arrived, having been watered and weeded semi-properly. 

Tikki flying around and having living her best life amongst the flowers, careful not to be seen, may of also had something to do with it.

"Yo Nettie, don't move." Well that was certainly not ominous to hear Nino say directly in her ear, "Nathaniel is drawing you I think. It's just a sketch for now but think you could hold it?"

Blinking twice for yes, a system they'd created as small children, Nino called over to Nathaniel that she was happy to stay still for him to draw her.

She made quick eye contact with the artist and saw him ducking his head almost as if in shame. Ah, so he knew something then.

Looking back at her sketch she decided to just start doodling as the red headed boy did his thing. She decided to occupy her thoughts with improvements on her Lila meta-human theory.

While she had yet to get confirmation that that was true, she decided that if she worked on the basis that it was in fact true it was probably some weak form of suggestion.

If you weren't already aware of the truth Lila could plant a seed in your mind that over time, would simply become whole heartedly believable. It would explain the immediate way the class had been drawn to her with only a few lies out of her mouth.

And now that she thought about it Marinette remember feeling in a slight haze after the first few times she'd heard Lila speak. Ivan had also used the phrasing 'Like I was coming out of a fog' when he'd apologised a few months prior.

So it was a type of suggestion, that was her theory. And you needed to already be previously aware of the deceit to not fall for it which... even at such a low level as she was suspecting Lila's ability was, was incredibly dangerous.

Just what could Lila convince people of? Well the answer had been proven hadn't it? False illnesses and conditions, for one. And of her many magnificent animal rescues, even with the class having met Jagged Stone's crocodile in person.

For kwamii's same, poor Fang had been akumatized and everything.

Some of the more dire thoughts were that Lila could lie her way into someone's home, lie her way into a private function. All it would take was a little suggestion, a little 'huh, maybe I'm forgetting?' and that was it.

So her new theory was either Lila had a weak manipulation ability or she was a first rate psychopath who had mastered the art of emotional and mental manipulation early.

Neither option was good, and in all honesty? Marinette wasn't sure what was worse.

-*-

 _**@AFandomWishes** _ _I think I just caught sight of the 'new Wayne'?? Sat posing for her friend as they drew her and it was so pure?_

_#GothamSunshine #NewWayne #WayneFeatures #ThePlantsLegitWereBloomingBrighterNextToHer_

-*-

"Marienette?" Glancing up from her sketch, which had started as a doodle but had quickly evolved into something more concrete, she realised Nathaniel had stopped sketching and was standing next to her.

She took a second to look around, making sure they weren't leaving and a guilt ridden Nathaniel had come to warn her. But no, everyone was still sat around, eating and laughing. If she bothered to look over for long enough she was sure she'd be able to tell of Mme. Bustier q as actually asleep of just pretending to be to ignore the class.

"Yes Nathaniel?" Things had been getting better since the Evillustrator akuma, but the issues with Lila had pushed them back months on their developing friendship.

The only thing half decent about that was that the both of them had realised it, and neither side was left feeling abandoned. Or so she hoped.

If anything she'd love to have Nathaniel as her friend again, but she wouldn't let anyone close that she couldn't directly trust. Even after three months Ivan still wasn't properly considered her friend. The boy knew this, and had agreed that it was for the best he wasn't forgiven so quickly.

That reminded her, she should check up on Méylene. The girl may think she was the scum of the earth (not that she'd said that it was just... well, Marinette was paranoid and sometimes the nasty thoughts of doubt acquired her classmates voices when they taunted her) but Méylene also deserved to know that her feelings were okay to express.

The girl probably felt guilty about having a breakdown, it having been too long since people could healthily express emotions that she'd seen people start to clam up and express feelings if guilt whenever they got emotional.

Damn it all, it was heart breaking.

She wished she could of saved Paris by now, but with no clue how despite a meagre clue on Hawkmoth's identity it was looking less and less likely.

Batman himself had made it clear the JL were aware of the situation but were also aware they were horrendous liabilities and would probably only make the situation worse.

How had she landed herself in a life straight out of a comic book? A magical accessory that allowed a possible megalomaniac to perform emotional warfare by weaponizing negative emotions was too good to be true. And yet, here she was.

The only thing that proved she wasn't living in a comic book was that people were actually actively suffering because of the akuma's, and not just at random points for plot convince.

Wait, crap, Nathaniel had been about to ask her something.

"Um.. I was wondering if it would be alright to hang around your group for the rest of the trip?"

She raised an eyebrow, "They're... they're badmouthing Marc and I can't just _sit there_ but Alya keeps glaring at me and I don't know _what_ she has on me but I know she's bullying Rose and-"

"Nathaniel."

She cut him off, seeing how distressed the other was becoming. She wasn't the kind, innocent girl Nathaniel had first met and she most certainly wasn't the Marinette that was his good friend anymore, but the boy didn't deserve to feel so terrible.

"No...I know I don't deserve it. I know I've been a terrible friend but please, I'm begging Marinette, I'm begging you. Let me escape from them before I do something stupid."

'Something stupid' Kwamii what were they even saying an out Marc to make Nathaniel get this angry?

"Of course, christ Nathaniel if it was this bad you could of come over sooner." She was stood now, holding her hands out in a placating manner just now realising that the artist was shaking slightly.

"But I've been such a horrible person... I've known for a while but I stopped trying to tell the truth after Alya first started sending me looks... I couldn't- I couldn't risk her lying about Marc but now that she has..."

"She's pushed you too far." He nodded.

"Alright, this doesn't make us friends again understood," he nodded, "But I'm willing to let you stay with us. This trip is supposed to be a time to release the negatives not build them up."


	11. Chapter 11

After Nathaniel joined their party it was relatively peaceful, the boys keyed up energy seemed to dissipate over the time he was sat with them and she took a few minutes to watch as his chakra's glow intensified as if it had been under lock and key and was finally free.

That was one thing she wished she'd know for longer. 

If she had a before comparison she might be able to tell if any significant changes had occurred to their Chakra's since Lila's arrival.

"Okay class, let's get cleaned up now, we're going to the Gotham museum of heroes and villains next!"

Bustier's voice was far too cheerful and, as a very tired moody teenager, Marinette did not appreciate it. If she could just take the energy from her joy and transfer it into being an actual decent teacher that would be cool.

However, the promise of visiting the aforementioned museum made her excited. She'd get to see so much about the heroes she'd never see anywhere else and she might even be able to glean a thing or two from the displays about villains.

The more she understood how a villain thought the easier it would be to get inside Hawkmoth's head and find a way to get to him. Because the thing was, if it really was Gabriel Agreste he'd showed no remorse in akumatizing his son, or himself, it was going to be near impossible to get to him.

Her current plan was a full frontal assault, but seeing as the Agreste Mansion was in the middle of Paris that was going to be exceptionally difficult.

Besides, this trip was to relax. Her battle strategies against Hawkmoth could wait.

-*-

The museum was simultaneously her heaven and her hell. 

On the one hand, the exhibits were great, the suits were glorious to see and get inspiration from. Not to mention the history she learnt while listening to the tour guide most of her class ignored was amazing.

She never knew so much about the vigilantes she'd lived under the protection of. After the tour and seeing them in person she was by no means disillusioned. They were so cool!

Alternatively, the museum was a personal hell. 

The suits, whole glorious and a source of inspiration, were that for all the wrong reasons. They were clearly stated to be replica's and yet the suits still looked so awful she felt she'd feint if an actual living person wore one of them in front of her.

The second reason was that there was something pulling her attention deeper into the museum which wasn't helping when she just wanted to enjoy the stupid tour.

It was as if one of her classmates had wandered off, because it felt like a chakra she'd previously pinged was trying to grab her attention. Which didn't make sense because her classmates were all within her line of sight, except Rose who'd gone to the bathroom. But even then, her chakra was pulling in the opposite direction to this mystery feeling.

So unless she'd duplicated and decided to explore the building that way then she was unsure as to what was causing the issue.

However despite that and the somewhat repulsive hero fashion she was being exposed to it was actually a nice trip. She was glad Alix had suggested it when they'd been trying to come up with an itinerary.

"So Bug?" She jolted when Adrien slipped up to her on one side, linking her arm.

"Your thoughts on the costumes?" Chloe did the same action on the opposite side of her, completing Adiren's question along the way, effectively trapping her in a blond sandwich.

"How do you put into words the feeling of utter disappointment that is immediately mirrored by the utter awe and disbelief that someone made something like that?"

The two on either side of her were silent, seemingly thinking out their answers before putting them into words. "No clue Nettie-bug, no clue at all."

"Same, I get what you mean though." Adrien's volume lowered, "And people say my costume is much."

The comment brought snickers out of her and Chloe, because if anyone had a costume that could rival those in the cases in front of her it was Chat Noir.

She could still remember the day the kwamii's had explained to her how the suit was different for each iteration of Ladybug and all other miraculous, because of how the suit was effected by the cognition of the holder.

It was an interesting concept to think about, with the additional feature of comedic license to tear mercilessly into Adrien for his suit. People didn't just say his suit was too much, people called him a furry and it was the most amusing thing she'd ever experienced in her life.

"At least people aren't calling the bat clan furries Adrien."

"I am not a furry!"

Marinette let out a huff of amusement as her two best friends argued around her as she ended up herding them after the tour they had decided to gate crash for her.

"Speaking of the Bat, we have a curfew." That silenced the pair instantly, "I had a run in last night, they're aware of our presence in the city, but we're not allowed to be in the suit."

"What? How did that- never mind that, what do you mean we aren't allowed!?"

Chloe's less than optimally quiet voice caught the attention of a few people but thankfully when they realised it was a French tourist shouting at two people she was linking arms with they disregarded it.

Good. 

It would of been awkward if they understood French. Most of the class had drifted off with Bustier into the museum and from where they were Marinette could see them, but they couldn't hear them.

"I went on a run, saved a kid and phoned in that one of the bats had dealt with it." She let her hands do the expressing for her as she focused on keeping the volume down, "They investigated because none of them were apparently nearby and they don't take kindly to copycats."

Adrien's flinch spoke miles about how he felt about the idea of 'copycats'.

"So then I got pursued by two of them, until the Bat himself turned up and calmly told me that I needed to get my magic ass powers under lock and key and not to flash them about in Gotham."

"Huh."

"Also, we have a shadow."

The feeling was more pronounced now, but it had been mingling about in the back of her thoughts all day. The chakra wasn't as close as the one pulling at her chefs currently, but it was close enough for it to be pinging on her internal radar.

Someone had been observing her all day, someone who she'd had the thought to ping, someone who wasn't in her class. Now, there were two possibilities here.

One, someone she knew personally had come to Gotham and was attempting to meet up (Kagami _did_ have a competition in the state's in a few weeks time) or, and this was the more likely version of events, someone was tailing her.

More specifically bat.

Now that she stood there and thought about it, it wasn't that the far away chakra wasn't close, it was that it was something she couldn't get a handle on.

There was an obstruction on the chakra. Which, thankfully, limited the options.

Either Red Hood or Robin were following her. The problem with that, besides being followed by compete strangers who were highly dangerous, incredibly connected vigilantes, was that it meant they knew who she was.

So, her problem was simple. She didn't know what to expect, or better yet who to expect. Bratty Robin with his stupid Katana, or the mysterious Red Hood with his guns.

Either way she was fucked if she didn't lose the tail.

"Should we split and try and figure out who it is?" Chloe took the suggestion right off of her lips.

"Is it safe to though? We're assuming its a bat right? What if it isn't? I'm not big on leaving Bug on her own if she acquired a stalker in the past twenty four hours."

"Only I could do that..."

-*-

 _**@GothamCityPoliceDepartment** _ _Citizens of Gotham, we urge you to keep your vigilante justice to a minimum, last night we had a Red Robin copycat and we'd like to keep it to that one instance!_

_Please don't intervene unless absolutely necessary and even then, call the police first!_

_#StaySafe #BatClan #RedRobin #RR #GothamCityPoliceDepartment #OurCommissionerIsSuffering #GiveHimABreakPlease_

-*-

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _So from my last poll I have discovered that I will be leaving the world, if my end is met via the Joker, with my last word(s) simply being 'Cheese'._

_I cannot think of a better way to leave this unsightly abandoned sandbox. Leaving people with mystery, cryptic messages and a slight possibility of me having been high out of my mind the entire time._

_#Gotham #Poll #ShitpostToTheExtreme #GodIsn'tBraveEnoughToFaceMeThat'sTheOnlyReasonI'mStillAlive #IWonderHowLongGodWillRemainInFear #TheDayIDieIsTheDayISmiteGod #JokerComeAtMe_

-*-

They went with the splitting up plan, she felt like she should be wearing an asscot in an audacious shade of orange and saying 'Alright, gang lets split up and look for clues' but couldn't quite grasp why, which resulted in her hanging around near the entrance hall to the museum watching the in and out traffic flow.

She scanned the crowds for any familiar faces, any familiar hints before giving up when the crowds became too dense to tell black hair from a beanie.

Instead, she closed her eyes and focused on the chakra's she had pinged. It made the world go silent as she searched for chakra's in the vast building, it didn't take long for her to find what she was trying to find.

Alarmingly the chakra in question was close by, extremely close by in fact.

Snapping her eyes open she found them latching onto a random figure in the crowd, they had their back turned to her but she found that now she knew they were the chakra following her she couldn't miss them.

It was disconcerting to say the least that they were so close. What would of happened if she hadn't split up from the group? If they were following her they could of figured out Chloe and Adrien.

That six if the Bat didn't already know. Would the Bat of sent his men to keep an eye on her though? But even with the mystery assailant discovered it left the issue of who was tugging at her Chaka deeper in the building...

Unless... there were two of them.

Shit.

Now she felt trapped, in a city vaguely familiar from a bygone era in her life and hunted while having to shield the two people that could help her from the prying eyes looking for her.

Turning she swept one last glance over the crowd to see the assailant she'd been looking at turn around. Young.

That was all her mind could register.

He was young.

Young equalled child, which meant child equalled Robin.

Shit, the brat wielded a Katana and tried to force her to fall. And he knew where she was. Shit, shit shit.

The boy behind him was pointing towards her and she mentally pinged him as well before turning on the balls of her feet and disappearing into the crowd that was making its way into the bowls of the museum.

He'd been in school uniform, that meant he wasn't necessarily here for her. That didn't explain the other chakra. She closed her eyes for a second trying to focus on where her classmates were, discovering everyone to be where they'd been when they'd originally split up.

Good, safety in numbers.

Maybe she was being paranoid, she was probably being paranoid. But this seemed like too much of a coincidence, two semi-familiar, pinged, chakra's appearing after she made a deal with the Bat who most certainly knew her identity by now, if he hadn't before, to stay out of the suit?

Marientte acted as a vessel for luck and _she_ was seriously sceptical about this.

But come on, it was too good to be true! Too coincidental!

She felt herself slipping into instinct.

Her objective was to get to somewhere safe, somewhere with lots of people who she knew wouldn't let some potential observer get her alone. Nothing else mattered.

Even if she thought she was being paranoid, she just needed to get to the group. That's what mattered. Not feeling like she was a hunted animal, not feeling like a fool for potentially being figured out less than a day after meeting face to face with Batman.

"Nettie!"

The nickname made her almost trip over her own feet as it was called in English and something jumped to attention in her brain that she didn't understand as her eyes searched for the source if the voice she couldn't process properly right now.

"Nettie-bug are you alright?"

Chloe.

Chloe was touching her arm, Chloe was keeping them walking towards the class, Chloe was talking. Focus on that.

Objective was being reached, stay grounded. Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Too much energy, too much going on, oh kwamii what if they _had_ figured her out-

"Nettie-bug speak to me. Run me through what's going on, step by step." A quick squeeze was given to her hand and the world came into better focus.

They were closer to the group, Adrien was on the other side of her like earlier. It was just like before, just a normal trip of friends, nothing suspicious.

Yeah, of course. That would work. No need to make herself a bigger target, no need to be more of a sitting duck.

Please let this be anxiety and paranoia, please let that be what this was.

Please, please, please.

The unfamiliar pull was stronger now, more insistent and it made everything worse again until Chloe slipped her arm around her shoulder and started whispering something to her that her mind wouldn't process.

Mme. Bustier's voice broke through the blurry thoughts and watery hearing, mainly because it set Marinette's bullshit sensors off. "I'm so glad you suggested this place Lila, you're a prime example of the kind of student we want at our school."

Marinette's thoughts were still muddled, her breathing still laboured and her chest still hurting because the part of her that recognized the chakra that she'd pinged longed to know where the person close by was, and worse of all her mind was still running a hundred and one contingency plans a minute but that bullshit made a cut right down the middle of her panic.

But then again, it wasn't even that that managed to drag her out of the depths of lizard brain fight or flight. No.

Oh, no.

What really brought her back from the brink of panic was the uncharacteristic "You liar! How dare you take credit for that!" That was ripped from Alix as they entered into the exhibit room.

They were just in time to see Alix in Lila's face despite the height difference, looking to the world like someone who'd spit on God's face if he were to arrive right then and there.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the line break is the fear toxin haze scene, I don't think it's anything bad but some people may not like it??

"Alix what is the meaning of this?" Bustier's false concern sounded almost timid.

With Alix's righteous fury pulling her from the brink of a panic attack Marinette managed to get breath in her lungs. Her mind didn't stop spinning, but it slowed down just enough for thoughts to form coherently again.

In order to ground herself further she chose to focus on the small important details; Chloe's arm slung around her shoulders, the way Adrien's hand patted her shoulder as he went over to Nino to help keep Alix back from throwing a punch, and the way Alix's shoulders rose and fell as she desperately tried to keep her anger contain whole still getting the point across.

"What's the meaning of this? What's the meaning of this!?"

She went to move closer to her friend but Chloe's grip kept her where she was. Confused she spared her friend a glance to see Chloe's eyes sweeping the room and it was only then that she noticed the pulling feeling in her chest had released.

That meant either the person had left the building or they were closer than Robin was.

"That liar is trying to steal my father's glory! ' _Oh I did the composition for the latest Louvre exhibit!'_ Yeah fucking right!"

Tension lit the air on fire and she disregarded her panic for time being trying to think of how to cool Alix's flames without putting them entirely, the pink haired girl was still fighting to get out of the grip Nino and Adrien had on her.

To make matters worse now a small crowd were discreetly watching the argument, and she supposed that if they knew French they'd probably started listening because of the mention of the Louvre and were just staying for the gossip.

"Alix why would you say that? I'm not trying to steal anybody's glory," the crocodile tears started up, but this time the pity party were slow to respond. Even Alya seemed to be taking a few seconds to decide who to side with, so Lila stepped the story up a notch, "The director of the Louvre asked me-"

"My father _is_ the director you- you hitch!"

You could hear a pin drop.

Just outside of the exhibit hall the crowds were still bustling and loud but inside it, it was complete silence.

And then sound seemed to come crashing down all at once as a loud piercing scream followed by gunfire sounded off behind them.

_**"EVERYBODY GET DOWN! WE'RE GOING TO PLAY A GAME TODAY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT'S CALLED WHO DO I GET TO TEST MY NEW SERUM ON TILL THE BAT ARRIVES!"** _

The familiar chakra flared up again meaning they were almost too close for comfort and it wasn't until someone rand past her, too quick for her to see anything but a streak of white in their hair, that she realised where the chakra was coming from.

Eyes following the figure she understood why she hadn't been able to tell who it was. The black goo that had had a vice grip of Red Hood's chakra was receding quickly, so quickly in fact it was like only a feint imprint by the time he was out of her line of sight.

The obstruction had been so strong she hadn't been able to tell _who_ it was.

What the hell was it and why did Robin and Red Hood have it. Moreover if what she'd heard was right that meant that -

"SCARECROW!"

Oh well damn it all to hell. They were royally fucking screwed.

Fear toxin and a class traumatized by not being able to experience negative emotions? That was going to go brilliantly, fantastically in fact.

Someone just kill her now, she'd renounce the Ladybug miraculous and everything; she was too tired for this.

Moreover, she wasn't getting paid enough to deal with all the carp her class was about to get pulled into. She was definitely taking that up with Damocles if she was still alive by the end of this!

-*-

 _**RougeWatchList** _ _Alert Gotham citizens, Scarecrow has taken the Gotham Museum of Heroics and Villainy hostage! Please stay clear of the area!_

_#Rouges #Batman #MuseumOfHeroicsAndVillainy_

-*-

Despite how loud the museum had sounded, despite how packed it had looked when Scarecrow's goons gathered them all up in the main exhibit hall it didn't actually look like they'd managed to grab that many hostages.

But of course her class would end up as the few that they did grab.

Everyone had been terrified into silence and from where she was, sat at the front of the group (how did the criminals that didn't even know her know she should be in the firing line) she could see Rose's eyes scrunched closed as she tried to bury her head into Juleka's shoulder.

Miraculously it seemed like a few of the other hostages were closing their eyes and trying to pretend this was all a bad dream. Taking that as distraction she tried to ping the two heroes she knew were in the building.

Robin was close by, Red Hood was still in the building at the least, but he was further away. Probably getting into costume if anything. Opening her eyes she took a shaky breath and pinpointed where Robin.

She'd been right that he was on a school trip, his uniform was obvious now against all the normal civilian clothes. A deep navy and black combination with the tell tale crest of Gotham Academy on the blazer pocket.

Rich then, that made sense.

Batman would have to be rich to have half of the shit he probably did. The batmobile alone would probably drain her and her parents life savings just to run for a week.

The boy looked over at her again, intentional this time and she nodded at him and be nodded back. It appeared they were in understanding then. A truce, for now at the least.

"How are we doing this Bug?"

Adrien's words were uttered in her ear and she swept her eyes over the room, taking into account where all the exits where and how many guards were at each. Scarecrow was holding a briefcase as he marched back and forth in the centre of the hall, it presumably held his new toxins.

Scarecrow had been in his prime nine years ago when she'd lived in Gotham, so she would have to presume he was still in it now. And she couldn't assume that his skeletal figure meant anything about his physical poweress so going for the head was out fit he question purely based off of a lack of information.

That was disregarding the fact that the three exits had two goons each and that meant six guns just from the exits pointed at her and the civilians at any given point.

Unfortunately the best bet would be to sit back and help where they could when it came to being discrete.

"We're sitting tight." The look of disbelief that crossed Adrien's face was slightly disconcerting.

"If this is about what was said to you yesterday-"

"Six guns posted at the exits, eight with the two next to Scarecrow and Scarecrow deals with hallucinations." She tried to discretely nod in the direction of the goons, "We can't afford to be under the influence with that many guns pointed at civilians."

"And the kid you just seemed to sign a deal with?"

"A secret"

The sound of a breath catching in shock was enough to have it be clear Adrien was catching on. "Anymore of them in the building?"

"Red Hood, so that's at least one person with a cure. But Scarecrow said it was a new batch."

"We're screwed."

"Royally." She nodded back to the blond who, when she turned her head to look at looked resigned more than terrified. That was good.

The majority of the class still looked to Adrien as a role model, if they saw he wasn't scared it should help them calm down. Facing forward again she kept her eyes on the super villain.

If it had just been her class she could of risked a bit of parlay, tried to get close and cause a distraction. However, Marientte doubted she could cause a distraction big enough to have eight guns trained on her without dying within seconds.

" _ **Alright everyone! The Bat has decided to test my patients! Hear that Bat's!? For every twenty minutes you're late starting now I start injecting one of these little French tourist kids!"**_

Two things registered all at once. 1) Scarecrow had a radio, so he was probably making demands not only to the police but to Batman. 2) Her class was about to be test subjects.

" _ **Now~ Who should we inject first?**_ " It didn't take her mind long to come up with a fool proof plan.

All it took was for the villain to stalk over to them, crouching in front of their group and waving a bony hand in the vague direction of Rose and Méylene for her to put it into action.

"I'll do it!" Her words, in English with a slight Gotham accent that seemed so obvious now that she'd been called out as French, seemed to echo in the quiet room.

" _ **Will you now? And tell me little miss sacrifice what makes you so sure about this?**_ "

Doctor Jonathan Crane had been a psychiatrist before he became a super villain, he'd spent years studying the human psyche, no wonder he wanted to talk about her sacrificial tendencies- the man probably enjoyed learning about what made his victims tick.

"You just want a show." She was probably being too brave now, but she couldn't do anything but pile on the bravado as she tried to keep calm while staring down a madman wearing a burlap sack as a mask, "My fears should give you a show."

She could of sworn he started smirking at her, because his next words sounded half amused. " _ **You know it's no fun when someone who's faced their fears is willing to play. Takes all the fun out of seeing them afraid.**_ "

"You're a psychiatrist Dr.Crane, you know that you don't need to have faced your fears to relive them." She tried to keep some semblance of eye contact but it was hard considering the mask.

It appeared she'd done it well enough because the madman burst into laughter, real, joyous laughter, " ** _Would you look at that? For someone claiming to not have faced your fears you don't seem scared right now... hmm. You know I'll take you up on your offer,_** " she was yanked up by one of the guards that had flanked him and tried to keep her feet under her as she was dragged to the centre of the room, " _ **J**_ ** _ust so I can figure out what makes a person like you feel afraid._** "

There were few times she regretted actions in her life, and by the end of this she wasn't sure if this was something that would join the short list or not.

She was forced to her knees again, with her arms being held behind her back to keep her in place as Crane made a show out of removing his fear toxin and filling the needle.

Keeping her eyes on the ceiling she didn't give him the service of making her classmates or the other civilians afraid.

Even if she was petrified and wanted to be anywhere else than here she wouldn't make the others afraid. If that meant she had to tear through the pain and the fear than so be it.

What she'd told Crane wasn't a lie, Marinette hadn't faced her fears properly yet, but as Ladybug she put her life on the line each and everyday, as Marinette she woke up each morning unaware of whether or not her friends and family would still be on her side.

She didn't need to face her fears because she lived them, each and every day. And if this meant she had to relive her paranoid, anxiety driven dreams for a few waking hours then she was glad to.

As long as she put up a good enough distraction Red Hood would be able to do something. Twenty minutes it had taken to get half way across the city last night, the Bat could make a journey here in twenty minutes probably.

Just twenty minutes. That's all she had to hold out for.

Twenty minutes.

" _ **Now little miss sacrifice, let's see what makes you afraid**_."

It was only for twenty minutes.

Just...just twenty minutes. Someone started crying across the room and it broke her concentration so much that she barely restrained herself from letting out a shriek when Crane's needle was stuck in her jugular.

"Shit..." The curse slipped from mouth as the world suddenly shifted hue, and then suddenly the only thing keeping her up right was the grip on her arms.

* * *

_Marinette didn't remember losing consciousness but she must of because she was suddenly awake._

_And suddenly very, very alone. She was in a large, open room. It seemed vaguely familiar in the way that all museum exhibit rooms did._

_Her arms felt stiff and she couldn't move them, though she when the thought occurred to try for some reason her mind told her not to bother. But still, even if something told her not to bother she had to try._

_It was too quiet and after trying to tug her arms free she discovered there was something keeping her in place, her memory caught up with her then._

_She'd been at the museum, Scarecrow had attacked, he'd -_

_" **Look at little Marinette! So weak and useless, can't even get back on her own feet. Pathetic.** " Lila's voice sounded off next to her head and she whipped her head to the side to try and see where the girl was but there was nothing there but whispers in the air._

_" **She's such a waste of space, I don't know why we don't just get rid of her you know. It'd be so easy~** " Alya's voice came from right behind her and when she started thrashing to get free the disembodied voice seemed to grab the back of her head to keep her still._

_" **Nobody would miss the little bitch when she was gone, brilliant thinking Alya.** "_

_"You're lying!" The words slipped from her mouth before she could control them and the voices broke into an uproar of laughter._

_" **Lying? Lying Marinette that's a bit old now isn't it? No, no. I'm not lying, not this time at least.** " She tried to fight back against the grip on her and looking forward she saw a milky white figure crouched in front of her, they patted her cheek and she could just see Lila's smirk even if the figure was faceless, that fact didn't register as unnatural. " **You remember my promise don't you? Everybody hates you, everybody loves me and at the end of the day what will the sheep remember? They'll remember how their poor darling Lila was mercilessly persecuted by the villainous Marinette.** "_

_"Shut up! Shut up, shut up!"_

_The voices laughed again and she saw another milky future stand behind where Lila's was, this time the silhouette looked like Alya._

_" **Can't face the truth Marinette? How very unfortunate. Any other words before I destroy you?** "_

_It took a few seconds and a lot of will power but she managed to spit on the figure in front of her and hissed out the words, "Fuck you."_

**_"WELl tHat'S_ ** _**nEW**." The voice became distorted and the figure in front of her cleared up enough to reveal a burlap sack before flickering back into a faceless white blob, " **Up THe DOsaGe.**_ _"_

_A scream was ripped from her as something was stabbed into her neck and the clouded surroundings twisted and morphed until she was on her knees as Paris burned in front of her._

_Seeing the miracle box torn open and the miraculous' scattered in thousands of pieces she fought harder than before to try and get out of the phantom grip on her._

_When she was sure she'd heard a noise if pain she tried harder to buck her head back and hit the phantom holding her, she thrashed her legs and got her feet under her and began kicking about, "LET ME GO! LET GO OF ME!"_

_The smoke and ash settled more to reveal Pollen, Wayzz, Kallki, Longg, Sass, Plagg, Tikki and the other kwamii were scattered on the floor, grey and without their usual joyous colouring._

_Then she spotted her friends._

_Kagami, Luka, Adrien, Chloe and Nino were lay next to their kwamii's, as if they'd died not long after the miraculous' had given up._

_Her heart dropped._

_No. No. No. No. No no no no no!!_

_She couldn't of failed to keep them safe! Not her friends! The miracle box was safe it was safe it was-_

_" **Well well well, Ladybug.** " Her head whipped towards the sound of Hawkmoth's voice. It had been in her head now and she was sure she'd never forget the sound of it, " **It appears you have failed. And now, without your miraculous what are you to do? You are weak. You are useless. You are NOTHING.** "_

_"SHUT UP! YOU BASTARD, YOU BASTARD HOW DARE YOU!"_

_It didn't seem to take much effort at all to break free of the mysterious restraints that were holding her back and she launched herself at Hawkmoth._

_As soon as her body collided with the Parisian villain she didn't hold back, no matter if she didn't have a miraculous, no matter if everything she'd given up to protect her friends and the kwamii's had been for nothing._

_She had nothing to lose now and Marinette was not about to be belittled by Hawkmoth after everything she had given up, after every sacrifice and every death she'd witnessed only to hold her breath to see if they'd come back this time._

_No._

_Hawkmoth did not get to belittle her now, or ever._

_"I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU! YOU BASTARD HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU HAVE ANY POWER OVER ME ANYMORE!"_


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marinette goes to the hospital and then the awaited police station scene soon after because I'm sorry, but in every comic I've seen fear toxin victims have had medical attention while in Gotham Trip AU's Marinette just gets on with her day and like?
> 
> Nope!  
> She's going to the hospital and she's going to get medical treatment because that toxin will not be good for her body.

_Her heart drummed in her ears, as every punch she threw seemed to echo in time with her heavy breathing._

_It wasn't something tangible but **something** was making her unable to stop. Because who did Hawkmoth think he was? Who did he think he was to tell her she was nothing - Hawkmoth who couldn't fight teenagers on his own, who had to weaponize human emotion. Who was he to belittle her._

_How dare he try and get away with stealing everything from her!_

_She'd- she'd kill him!_

_The punches get going even if she knew Hawkmoth had stopped tearing at her to try and throw her off of him awhile ago. It didn't matter now._

_Ladybug would stop, Ladybug wouldn't go this far, wouldn't attack someone who couldn't defend themselves._

_But she wasn't Ladybug anymore, Tikki was lay lifeless behind her as a testament to that. No._

_She was Marinette fucking Dupain-Cheng Todd and she had lost her family twice now and she would not take it lying down!_

_All she wanted was for it to stop, for this whole situation to never happen. Marinette had never asked Fu to choose her, had never asked Fu to entrust the miraculous to her but this was her responsibility and she'd failed so now she'd enact justice anyway she could!_

_Damn her moral code, damn everything that screamed at her to stop! No one that could of pulled her back from this edge was alive anymore!_

_-*-_

_"Nettie you have to stop!"_

_Marinette didn't understand what was going on, one minute she'd been punching Hawkmoth - desperate to avenge her friends, her family and all those that **Hawkmoth's** reign of terror had ruined- the next she was being dragged off of **Hawkmoth** by three other **Hawkmoth's**._

_And because of that she lashed out at them as well, throwing herself around to swing a fist fuelled by grief straight at one of the would-be Hawkmoth's only for a fourth one to grab her arm before she could actually land the hit._

_Snapping her teeth at the Hawkmoth that grabbed her hand she snarled, almost missing the words that spilled from his mouth, "Bug, you've gotta calm down! Bug, it's me!"_

_Only Adrien called her Bug, only her best friend was allowed to call her that! How dare this monster use his voice against her!_

_Her thrashing got worse until she was pulled to one of the Hawkmoth's chests, a hand pressing itself to the back of her head and keeping her face in the monsters shoulder._

_Unable to stop fighting back she tried to lash out, attempting to throw punches at the bastard keeping her in his grasps back to break free. A hand began running through her hair and it made every hair on her body stand on end because who did this bastard think he was-_

_"Shh... Nettie-Bug, shh. I'm here, we're here. Adrien's here, Nino's here and so is Kim. We're all here Nettie-Bug." She found her eyes peering over Hawkmoth's shoulder to where the other Hawkmoth was sprawled on the ground._

_Looking past that she felt her heart stop as the bodies of her friends and the kwamii's was gone. Chloe's voice repeated the affirmation, "Everyone's fine Nettie, you got him. You got him good Nettie- Red Hood turned up just like you said he would, you kept Scarecrow distracted long enough."_

_Her memories started to catch up to her, the argument between Lila and Alix, the villain taking the museum hostage, giving herself up to be used as an experiment, them upping the dosage._

_Oh kwamii what had she done? She'd just beaten someone into the ground-_

_"It's okay to cry Nettie. Let it all out, I'm here. We'll keep you safe."_

_She had to trust that it was Chloe holding her, because she couldn't trust anything right now, but she had to trust Chloe's voice. Her Queen Bee would protect her, right?_

_The first few tears started to run which lead to the water works opening full throttle and she couldn't help it. Her sobs started and suddenly her knees were giving out and she and the Hawkmoth look-alike who was really Chloe (why was the serum still working!? How long did it take to drain from her system!?) sunk to the floor._

_"I'm **scared**. Chloe **I'm so scared**."_

_"I know, crap, Nettie I know."_

_A head was tucked into her neck and she felt her body tense for a few seconds as she tried to rationalise that it was Chloe - it was Chloe not Hawkmoth. He wasn't here. He was in Paris this was Chloe and it was an illusion. Think of Volpina's illusions. It was just like that it had to be - before she forced herself to relax._

_"You're doing great Bug. The police are getting everyone out right now, we're here to make sure you're safe until Red Hood escorts you to the hospital okay?" Adrien's voice barley broke through the haze and if what Chloe had said was right Kim and Nino was here with him._

_"Is- Is everyone... did I hurt anyone? Please tell me I didn't hurt anyone!"_

_Her body began to shake as she thought about what she'd done. She'd mercilessly attacked someone, she'd seen red. Her heart had told her to punch, and punch and to keep punching until the one beneath her **stopped**._

_She didn't know what they were supposed to stop, but she felt it was more linked to stop breathing than stop fighting back._

_What... what had she done?_

_She'd-_ she'd hurt someone. She'd attacked someone!

"Chloe, Adrien, Kim, Nino come on, we need to get on the bus, the paramedics will handle it from here."

"What!? No! I'm not leaving until I see for myself Nettie getting in that damn ambulance!"

"I'm not asking young lady."

"WELL I DON'T CARE!" She tightened her grip on Chloe when she shouted, hoping to keep the girl calm even if she couldn't fully process the situation. She didn't want to be alone.

Why were they trying to leave her alone?!

"Bug, Bug you're gonna be alright we won't let them abandon you. Bustier's gonna have to leave all of us if she thinks she's going to get away with leaving you behind."

"Yeah, Nettie, Nino and I aren't gonna let anyone hurt you. Just like when we were kids remember?" She felt another hand slowly touch her arm and shaking she brought her own up to grab it. "You used to beat everyone up for Nino and then I had to run around making sure you didn't pick a fight with someone bigger than you."

A weak laugh sounded next to her and she didn't realise she'd squeezed her eyes shut until she tried to force them open only to _still_ see Hawkmoth's face next to her.

"You always got into trouble didn't you? I - I don't know how much of this is getting through but think of happy things... what did you say your brother was called? Jason right?"

"Yeah..."

Over her head she could hear Chloe and two other semi-familiar voices screaming at Bustier but she focused on Kim's.

"Tell me a funny story about him Nettie, he always sounded cool."

"When...when I was really little we ended up on the streets," a shudder ran through her and Alya's and Lila's taunting voices started screaming about how nobody cared, about how everyone would be happy to see her go. Chloe's grip on her increased. "I ended up stealing an officer's wallet, but he had it on an elastic string and I nearly went flying back..."

"A pick pocket from youth, I should of know with your slight of hand tricks Nettie." Kim squeezed her hand and she kept her eyes close and instead visualized her friend next to her so she wouldn't have to see Hawkmoth's face with his grin on it.

"I- I didn't know what to do," a bubble of laughter interrupted by another sob broke her, "What are you even supposed to do in that situation you know? But Jason- he always knew what to do... he yelled something I can't- I can't remember what but it made the officer jump so high!"

Her throat constricted as the hand on her shoulder suddenly felt like it was burning her and Chloe's grip became too much. The familiar words started slipping from her friends voice to that of the monster who had _killed them he'd killed them! How dare he!_

" _ **What was Jason like?**_ "

The question stopped her spiral into panic and she started to rise to the surface again, everything was still muffled and everywhere she looked there was still Hawkmoth's and Alya and Lila were still spewing vile words in her ear but Chloe's voice along with Adrien and Nino's were becoming recognizable again.

"He was brave. He always stuck up for me. Whenever he introduced me he always said the same thing." Her crying had calmed enough for her to laugh without choking on tears, " _'Nettie, my little sis. You touch her I break your jaw got that!?'_ he was always so much smaller than everyone else though, I don't think he'd of ever been able to!"

"Alright kiddo," her head snapped up, eyes flashing open at the semi-familiar voice, "Miss I'll need you to let go of your friend so I can escort her to the ambulance."

Why was that voice familiar? Why- why did it click in the back of her head but not in the awake, functioning part!?

"She'll - Nettie will be alright right?"

She was practically forced to her feet and felt like a toddler. The voices were still there, but we're a dull throb and now that she could focus on the real voices she was able to keep a limited grasp on reality, even if everyone looked like Hawkmoth that didn't mean it was real.

"She should be golden kid, now please, hand her over. Or are you going to actually see her into the ambulance herself?"

He was making a joke.

That...Adrien had said Red Hood right? Yeah.

He'd seemed jokey last night. That was cool. She could deal with that she supposed. Kwamii she needed a laugh right now.

She felt like crying again but held back. She was jostled and she tried to not act like a useless ragdoll as best she could, but it was hard when every part of her felt numb.

"Shit!" Oh... that didn't sound good. They were moving quickly now, "I NEED AN EMT SHE'S CRASHING!"

Well that wasn't good. Huh...why was she so sleepy... had... had everything been so blurry before?

"Come on Nettie stay with me, come on kiddo, it's been nine years you can't do this to me now."

Huh, that sounded like Jason. Weird. Everything hurt now...everything was getting dark again.

* * *

Consistent, rhythmic beeping tipped her off that she was in the hospital. The blinding sterile white when she forced her eyes open only confirmed the fact.

Blinking, drastically trying to get the dead weight to leave her body, she searched the room. It was a standard room she guessed, she hadn't been in many hospitals though so she was basing it off of movies.

The heart monitor was on her left, along with an IV filled with what she had to guess was probably reverse engineered fear toxin. Scarecrow had said it was a new batch and the fact she was in hospital and not in the hotel suggested he'd been telling the truth.

Otherwise she was sure she'd of gotten the cure at the museum and of been with her friends.

...!

Her eyes started working quicker now and she jumped upward from where she'd been lying down as she searched the room for any sign if human contact. Finding none she felt her heart start beating faster as she tried to figure why she was waking up alone in hospital after the museum.

Why? What had happened to mean -

"No... no no no no.... no no no." She gripped her head as a splitting pain erupted on her right temple and it made her get more panicked.

Had she'd seriously scared them that much they'd abandoned her? Why was this happening? Why why why why!?

"Dear you need to calm down!" From her blurry vision, when had she started crying, she could make out a nurse in front of her attempting to calm her down, and failing at it spectacularly.

Nothing was going to make her calm!

Her class had left! Or at the least, Bustier had tried to leave her alone in Gotham, going to a strange hospital unaware of if she'd wake up, without anyway to contact her oh kwamii what about Tikki!?

"Dear please, you need to calm down, it's alright. You're safe, nobody was hurt. Nothing that happened was your fault - you're the victim here." The nurses words came into focus and she wanted to laugh at how off the mark she was, "Nobody is going to blame you for what happened."

"They- they left me didn't they?"

The nurse seemed to catch on, "Yes. Yes dear they did."

"How could they just- my teacher I can't understand how- no I do but I don't want to..." She gripped her head harder, squeezing her eyes shut to stop herself from crying.

She wasn't about to cry over this! No! She- she was alone in a country that wasn't anymore home than Paris was, and her teacher had abandoned her to deal with the American health care system on her own and she didn't even know if she had her phone on her and-!

"I know it's stressful, but you've been so brave. Red Hood told us that you helped save your classmates." She looked up to see the nurse smiling kindly at her, "I would have been too petrified to move utterly you stood up to the Scarecrow. You should be very proud."

A wet laugh left her as she started to calm down. The Nurse's voice was soothing. "I don't think my parents would agree, I think they'd just tell me to stop giving them heart attacks."

"Which brings us onto our involvement miss Marinette." Looking towards the door she was confused to watch as two police officers walked into the hospital room.

Why did they need a statement from her? She was probably the least reliable person to ask about what had happened.

"We recovered your phone at the scene, but it was broken and your school hasn't been in contact with the hospital so we have no way of letting your family know you're okay." Sweet Kwamii it was as bad as she'd been fearing, "Which means we have to ask you a few questions, contact your parents and inform them you're alright. But most importantly we have to discuss why you're schools left you."

"Because the teachers a damn instigator." Left her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Well," the female officer, she couldn't read her name plate with how bad her headache was, said, "That opens that can of worms."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think of this as a part 1 to the full chapter.  
> Also, I'm throwing in a 'Birds of Prey' reference because they messed with the timeline so I get to mess with the character's

"That opens that can of worms."

The phrase made her go pale as she realised what she'd said. It was true, it wasn't as if she'd lied, but Marinette had never voiced the fact aloud before and it was both constricting and freeing at the same time.

"You don't look so good kiddo, how are you feeling?"

"I..." She brought her hands down from where they'd been grabbing at her head and watched as they trembled in front of her, "I don't know? Like... how am I supposed to feel?"

The officers sent her pitying looks and it made her feel worse than she already did. She didn't need pity, she needed to understand what the fuck was going on and why she was alone in a hospital, why she was alone in Gotham essentially while her class did who knows what.

All she had right now was that she knew the name of her hotel.

"You're in shock, it's understandable kid. Nobody is asking you to be the adult in the room."

That set her off, tears breaking free from their poorly constructed dam's. How long had it been since she'd been allowed to be a child? Three years? More?

Kwamii, she couldn't stop crying. "You're the first person in a long while to tell me that."

-*-

 _**AlissaVale** _ _Dudes, I was just at the Museum and I saw THE DAMIAN WAYNE nod to this girl with Wayne features. Scarecrow got what he deserved_

_#NewestWayne #Holyshit #Scarecrowbeatdown_   
_#Waynegirlisbadass_

_-*-_

**_CollinWilkes_ ** _Just been involved in a Scarecrow attack and this girl who looks exactly like a new Wayne offered to take the fear toxin so no one else would and then completely destroyed Scarecrow._

_Holy Shit what did she see?_

_#NewWayne #WayneFeatures #BadassChic #ScarecrowWasTheOneWhoFeltFear #GetHerATherapist_

_-*-_

After she managed to stop crying, feeling tired and like the only thing she could do anymore was sit there numb, at some point the nurse had left but the officers were still stood there, patiently waiting. 

It was a strange novelty now, to have an adult other than Sabine and Thomas who wouldn't get on her case if she took longer than five seconds. She was unsure how to feel, should she be grateful that they were letting her process? Should she feel guilty because she was wasting their time when there were probably worse things happening in Gotham?

" _it's been nine years you can't do this to me now."_ A pain shot through her head and she gripped it again, unable to properly hear what was being asked of her.

She could barely make out the words 'pain' and 'side effects' before her eyes were going blurry, black fuzz building up around the edges as voices she knew she should recognise but couldn't started screaming at her.

"Please...please make it stop..." She didn't even know who she was asking anymore.

It hurt.

It hurt so much, her mind wouldn't stay still and she felt sick and for goodness sake Tikki was missing what did she do!? Oh kwamii this was going to end up just like that nightmare before wasn't it!?

"Kiddo- kid focus on my breathing!" 

Someone grabbed her hands and through bleary eyes she made out a navy blue uniform. Squeezing the hands holding hers to test the waters she tried to match her breathing to the one talking to her. It didn't work amazingly but after awhile her breathing started to calm down.

The voices started to simmer down as well, fading away as I'd just to taunt her with the fact that they weren't real to begin with.

Chest heaving, not from the speed of her breathing, but from the exertion it had put on her to calm down she tried to focus in on the world again.

When she successfully managed to get her eyes to focus once more she took in the officers in front of her properly.

The woman was about average height, black and had her curly hair cut short into a bob. As her mind tried to get some semblance of peace Marinette couldn't help thinking about what colours and designs would go well with the officer.

"'Atta girl." The woman squeezed her hands, "Think you can breath now?"

"...yeah..."

"Good." She was sent a sweet, almost disarming smile, "My name is officer Montoya, and my partner over there is officer Bertinelie we were told you took down the Scarecrow?"

Marinette chose to nod, not quite trusting herself to speak properly. One word answers were alright but she didn't want to waste her words if she didn't have to.

"That was incredibly brave of you miss." Bertinelie stayed by the door which confused her slightly but she was thankful for the space all the same and tried to give him a smile to show that.

"You said the reason your teacher left you is because she's an enabler?" Another nod, "Well we have good news for you and bad news."

"The good news kiddo, is that no French citizens have left Gotham city limits, we have toll booths in and out for a reason with the amount of fugitives running around." Montoya laughed and Marinette found herself giggling at the non-existent joke, "And no French citizens have left via Gotham airport so they're still in the city."

If that was the good news what could possibly be the bad news?

"Bad news? Like Bertinelie said before, they haven't contacted us. In fact no hospital in Gotham has been contacted to check on you sweetheart."

It took a few seconds for the words to properly sink in and when they did all she could do was nod, once more numb. They'd abandoned her. Bustier really hadn't even bothered to check to see if she was alive!

Wait...where had that thought come from? Of course she was - _"I NEED AN EMT SHE'S CRASHING!"_

Once more choppy imagery flashed through her mind, being practically dragged as her body started to shut down, someone who's voice was painfully familiar in a way she couldn't decipher screaming that she was crashing...

Had she nearly died?

"What do I do now? I- I know the name of my hotel, I should be able to just go back right?"

Montoya's face flashed with anger while Bertinelie opened his mouth and closed as if unable to get the words out. "Miss you aren't serious right? You can't genuinely want to go back to them."

"He's right kiddo, you're from Gotham right?" She nodded, puzzled and where this was going, "The accent gives it away. We can contact your family here. Doesn't matter if you're an exchange student or not you _never_ leave a child to fend for themselves on a trip."

Oh.

Oh! They thought - they thought with her accent she was an exchange student!

"You can't." At the confused glances between the two officers she elaborated, "The only family I have in Gotham, I haven't seen since I was seven. My adopted parents took me to live in France nine years ago." She tried to laugh but it just came out resigned, "I haven't been a Gothamite in a long time."

Montoya shuck her head with a chuckle, "You never stop being a Gothamite kiddo, this shit is in your veins. We protect our own in Gotham, remember that."

* * *

After the nurse had gotten the doctor to take a final look over here, confirming that she'd be having slight side effects for the next few days due to how a high a dosage of fear toxin she'd been subjected to, they made their way to a police car out the front of the hospital.

Sitting in the back if the car she clutched her bag tightly her hands, the distinctive lack of Tikki making her frazzled nerves worse, and watched through the window as they whizzed through Gotham on their way to the closest Gotham prescient.

To distract herself from the fear of the unknown she ran through what the doctors had said to her about her injures, sparing a glance down to the bandages covering her arms.

She was apparently _extremely lucky_ to even be alive, never mind capable of moving about the way she was.

And apparently it was _miraculous_ how the only injuries she'd sustained were that of split knuckles, scratches on her arms where Scarecrow had tried to pry her off of him and a bruise where the needle had been practically stabbed into her.

It felt like some kind of sick joke. Her good fortune had only lasted until the attack, ended when it started and then caught back up after the damage had been done.

If anything at least nobody else had gotten hurt in the attack.

"So, miss, we didn't get to properly introduce ourselves." Bertinelie turned in his seat, Montoya driving, and stuck his hand out to her to shake, "I'm officer Bertinelie, the face of the operation that is this partnership while Montoya there is the brains between the two of us."

Tentatively accepting the hand given to her she introduced herself, "Marinette."

The man gave a grin, and she felt he was probably a bit more of a joker than he was letting on, probably being more professional because of the seriousness of the incident.

"Lovely to meet you miss Marinette, sorry for the circumstances of our meeting." She nodded, "So tell me, what are you doing in Gotham with your class?"

She noticed what he was doing almost immediately, he was getting her talking about a neutral topic, the trip itself, while mentioning her class. The idea was probably to get her to subconsciously mention something about the class in regards to the trip.

Marinette had used it on civilians as Ladybug when she tried to get them to explain why they'd been akumatized. Mention something about them she could understand from a quick glance but link it to the information she wanted. It was a bit underhanded but she could understand why Bertinelie was using that method.

After all, she wasn't quite stable at the moment and he probably didn't want to risk setting her or any of the 'side effects' off.

"For the last three years there's been...issues in Paris," she discreetly looked up from where she'd focused her eyes on her bag to see Bertinelie's eyebrows furrow in confusion. He didn't know about Hawkmoth then, so the Paris incidents weren't common knowledge, "There's this guy who uses magic to turn people with extreme negative emotions into monsters."

"..."

At the silence that followed she figured she had both of their attentions, "My class... my class has been turned into those monsters a lot. I think the principal just wanted us out of the country to give Paris a break."

The idea had been spinning around her brain since she'd sat down with Damocles and Bustier that that was the reason for the trip, but she hadn't really said anything about it.

"That's, a weird kind of therapy for kids I guess? So you came to Gotham to what? Be angsty and not be called emo?" Her eyes flicked up to Bertinelie at that and couldn't help the laugh that burst from her when she heard the man say 'emo'.

Montoya groaned from the drivers seat, "You did not just say that Bertinelie."

"What? What did I say wrong!?"

-*-

Arriving at the police station she felt herself clamping up with stress. 

What were they even doing here?

Montoya had said they needed a statement but she thought she'd of been the last person to ask for a statement considering she'd been under the influence of a drug the majority of the time .

Bertinelie left them when they entered the prescient, saying he was going to let their sergeant known they were back, leaving just her and Montoya to walk through the building.

She could feel her anxiety spiking as she was lead into the prescient, bag clutched to her side desperately as any and all confidence she'd built up in the car ride over disappeared. The only time she'd been out of costume and in a police station was when she and Jason had gotten caught after running away from the police officer she tried to pick pocket.

Logically, her mind told her she wasn't in trouble, they just probably wanted to clear a few things up before sending her back to the hotel, but she couldn't keep calm.

"Marinette," Montoya placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze and the woman gave her another disarming smile, "Just breath okay? One of the detectives want to talk to you is all."

"I'm...I-" she couldn't form words but it appeared she didn't need to because Montoya seemed to be able to tell what she was thinking.

"I know. You're scared and confused and don't know what to do, you're not on your own. Now let's go kiddo, detective Noro normally has a stash of chocolate in his office, let's raid it together."

"Trying to convince the poor kid to help you break the law Montoya? Officers are supposed to uphold the law not break it." Turning her head she had to crane her neck to see Noro's face but when she did she found a tried but amused expression, "Stay away kid, she's a bad role model."

"Don't listen to him Marinette, he's just annoyed that I won't share my lasagne with him anymore now that he's a detective."

Noro's face didn't change, still relatively blank but she didn't miss the twitch of his lips, "You're the only person I know who actually makes it like my grandma, Gotham's lasagne tastes like sludge in comparison. I've even offered to pay for it!"

Montoya shuck her head and Marinette found a small smile clinging to her lips, "So typical of a man Marinette, thinks I'll do anything for some money."

Noro's face shifted very quickly from shock to worry before settling into something resembling flabbergasted, "That's not what I meant! Montoya you don't think that right?"

She was lightly pushed towards an office with the name Noro on the name plate by a snickering Montoya, "Down right evil he is Marinette."

"Montoya?" The desperation in Noro's voice was obviously faked and it made for an amusing scene, "Montoya please tell me you don't think that!"

"To the chocolate stash we go!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of last chapter

Once she was sat down in detective Noro's office, officer Montoya pulled one of the chairs from the corner of the room to be sat next to her as they watched the detective walk in with a once more blank face.

"So, you're Marinette right? Bertinelie said that was your name..." The detective seemed to be mumbling more to himself than asking her a question and so she sat there silently, "You're not in trouble, thing is your phone is broken and you didn't have any form of identification on you so we're just here to sort out the issues surrounding the attack."

Issues? Did he mean her class?

"The thing is, we don't know if your parents have been made aware of what happened." She nodded, "But your school also has made no attempt to find out where you are, which means we need to find an alternative."

"Um..." Tentatively she spoke up, "I know where my hotel is, I can always go back. I'm sure the hotel would let me contact my parents with their landline."

Noro shared a look with Montoya that she could decipher.

"Marinette, you realise we have officer testimonies that prove your teacher was neglecting her duties as a guardian. We can't, in good conscious let you go back under her care."

"It's not...it's not that big a deal."

"You also said your teacher was an enabler, care to explain why you said that?" The words didn't hold any bite or even come out as confrontational but something about them made her feel defensive.

An illogical part of her brain was telling her he thought she was lying, that he thought she was attention seeking.

It was enough for her to metaphorically snap her teeth at the detective.

"A bully in my school uses lies to twist my friends and I into some kind of fairy tale monsters... and Mme. Bustier doesn't give a damn." She clutched her bag harder, "She lets Lila lie and twist everything, sometimes if I haven't...if I haven't been a good enough role model it's like she sets up situations that let Lila villanise me."

The silence was damning and she felt her body tense as Noro shifted from where he was stood behind his desk, "What do you mean she lets her lie?"

She let out a laugh, "She claims to have tinnitus, and in accordance misophonia." At their confused expressions she explained, "Misophonia is an aversion to certain noises. It's different for everyone. Lila claimed I'd tried to segregate her from the trip because of her misophonia being a debilitating condition."

It was difficult to not spit out her words, "My Mama's brother has a hearing condition, why the hell would I try to segregate someone because of one?" Marinette forced herself to look away so that she didn't glare at Noro, "Never mind the fact that when I tried to explain to Bustier what had happened she said I just needed to be more understanding, the I needed to be more _compassionate._ "

Her words came out snarled in the end and she didn't care. Marinette was done with being trampled on, tired of having to bow down to everyone else's whims. Marinette wanted someone to know.

Someone who could do something. And even if Gotham police couldn't do anything, at the very least someone might care enough to find someone who could.

"Marinette, does your teacher do that often? Say you have to be the bigger person I mean?"

Sitting there and thinking about it, all the way back when she and Chloe had been rivals that had always been Bustier's approach. "Yeah."

"Kid, that's manipulation." Her head shot up to stare at the detective, "She's putting the blame onto you, the victim. I believe the correct term is gaslighting. She's abusing her position as your caregiver in a school scenario and neglecting her duties as said caregiver."

"She's not the best teacher but I wouldn't say she's manipulating me."

Noro walked around from his desk to crouch in front of her so that they were forced to look each other in the eye, "Tell me Marinette, honestly, has there ever been a situation where you were clearly the victim and she's not made you feel as if you were at fault."

The questioned stunned her, and while she hated Mme. Bustier she didn't think she'd go as far as to manipulate-

_"I can always ask someone to help you if you can't handle the stress on your own Marinette. I understand you're a very busy individual."_

_"It's perfectly alright Mme. Bustier. I have to set a good example after all don't I?"_

That was three months ago. She'd knew at the time that Bustier was just trying to make sure she'd do the work for the trip but it wasn't manipulation surely?

_"Mme. Bustier do you have a minute?"_

_"Of course Marinette, what can I do for you?"_

_"Um... you see today Lila-"_

_"Lila again Marinette? The issue lies with your negativity Marinette, if you were just more compassionate towards Lila and understood that with her array of illness life must be stressful for her-"_

_"That doesn't mean she should be able to make my life hell as some sick form of stress relief!"_

_"Marinette! You do not talk to an adult or a teacher in that way!"_

That was six months ago when Lila had tried to say she was sleeping around to make her look like a terrible person. It had taken all her connections on the student council to squash the rumour before it became too big.

_"Honestly Marinette, you just seem to keep disappointing me recently. How many times do I have to tell you to be the bigger person? If you set an example the rest of the class will follow. The longer you play the martyr the more the class will come after you."_

_"But it's not playing the martyr, how is being a victim playing the martyr?"_

_"There you go again using labels. You're not innocent in this whole affair Marinette, if you instigated the argument you need to expect to have things thrown back at you."_

_"I was defending myself- I didn't start the argument Alya did when she -"_

_"Do not go shifting the blame on your classmates Marinette. You only have yourself to blame for what's happened."_

Two separate occasions where Bustier _had_ made her feel like it was her fault, but none stood out to her where the teacher hadn't.

"I take it you're trying to think of a time she hasn't made you out to be the villain?"

"I-I can't think of a time where it wasn't my fault... I just assumed that the advice wasn't working so stopped doing what she told me to..." She could see Noro nod at her words, "but then she'd just keep piling it on and- and damn it why can't I think of a time where she didn't make me at fault!"

"Because she's a bad teacher kid, some people would count that as emotional abuse and from the reports of you beating the Scarecrow and what you said while under well, it indicates you have a lot of negative feelings for someone in your life with power over you."

Noro stood from where he was crouched and lent on his desk, next to her Montoya gave her hand a squeeze, "But, that's for a psychiatrist and a lawyer to talk to you about. For now, my job is making sure we find an alternative for you while in Gotham than your class."

"But I don't have anyone to stay with and I don't have enough money for a hotel for the rest of the stay-"

"You said you had family in Gotham didn't you Marinette?" Montoya's words cut through her panic, "Said you haven't seen them for nine years - why don't we contact them?"

A laugh bubbled up in her throat at the suggestion. She tried to hold it in but couldn't help it.

"If you can find them then go ahead. I haven't seen Jason since the day social services split us up."

-*-

 _**@BertinelieJokes** _ _Just dropped off the kid from the Scarecrow incident and I'm calling it she's a new Wayne. She's so nice and I would this sunshine child no questions asked._

_#NewWayne?? #WayneFeatures #SunshineOfGotham_

_-*-_

**_@TheGreatBatsy_ ** _@BertinelieJokes I thought I was the only one that thought she was a Wayne! She just has the aura of 'She could kick my ass and I'd thank her' that all the Wayne's have and she has the features!_

_#SheIsBeatuySheIsGraceSheWillKickYouInTheFace #NewWayne?? #WheresDickGraysonsTweetAskingBruceForANewSibling??_

* * *

She found herself in a new office, having been moved with Montoya as Noro called social services and asked for any and all files pertaining to her (that they didn't have on the computer) to try and find if Jason was still a viable option to take her in for her trip.

The detective had already taken the liberty of printing out the ones they had on the police system which was never a good thing to have on a police computer. She presumed it was prohibitively when she and Jason were picked up by social services.

Marinette vaguely remembered making a statement that night.

For the last few years she been apart from her brother she'd stopped her search for him, and now she felt incredibly guilty.

She'd done everything she could think of to find Jason Todd, but the most she'd been able to find was this guy called Jason Wayne that the Gotham tabloids liked to speculate was the crime Lord turned vigilante Red Hood because of how the Wayne kids return to Gotham from a few years abroad correlated with the Red Hood's debut.

Looking into the evidence it seemed plausible but she'd gotten pissed off that she hadn't been able to find a trace of Jason Todd on the internet and stopped any more research into the guy. And now she was discovering she could of just requested her files to find out about her brother.

What the hell. 

The answer had been right in front of her the entire time. She wasn't sure if the discovery was aggravating because it was so obvious or because the thought had never occurred to her to even try and find information that way.

Probably the second option, because that meant she had to admit to herself and somebody else that she had at one point been Catherine and Willis' Todd's child.

Catherine wasn't someone she was ashamed to be related to, no. Catherine hadn't been the best mother, and having looked back on it later in life she'd realised she'd had a substance abuse problem that she'd been struggling with far longer than her or Jason had been around.

No, the issue came with Willis Todd.

In her search for Jason she'd stumbled upon information about Willis, about his crimes and his stupidity in regards to all things. Even if she wasn't related to him by blood she didn't want anyone to think he had ever been her ' _father_ '.

Marinette, had had two mothers and one father her entire life. And their names were Catherine, Sabine and Thomas.

"Didn't take you as one for a criminal record kid." Looking up from where she'd been playing go fish with officer Montoya she found her eyes searching Noro's face to try and decipher what his tone meant.

It couldn't be the falsified reports that Lila had made could it?

"I never went to court for it so I don't know what you're going on about." When Noro laughed in amusement she found herself relaxing slightly.

"Your file isn't as extensive as some I've seen but still, pick pocketing at six? And you were only caught because the officer had an elastic on his wallet? Impressive."

"Shouldn't be encouraging anti-social behaviour Noro." Looking over to Montoya the officer used her middle finger to pull down her eye lid and stick her tongue out at the detective as he sassed her back.

"Holy shit." Looking back at Noro she found the detective looking from the file in his hand to her and back again.

"What?" This was worrying and the tone of Montoya's voice reflected that.

"You tried to steal _the Jim Gordon's_ wallet."

It took a second for it to click who that was, " ** _I did what_**?!"

-*-

"Okay, these are the social services files we've been waiting for. God this is why I love being in the prescient next door to one of the main offices."

Dropping two files, and with the size of them you could of justified it being only one, Noro walked to the other side of the table and she and Montoya started to clear the card game they'd just been playing.

"So, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, let's get your parents contact information and see what we can do for this mysterious big brother of yours."

Handing her cards back over to Montoya who stowed them away in a box she tucked into her pocket Marinette turned towards the files in front of her, wondering if she was allowed to look through them. "Go ahead Marinette, it's your information after all."

"Thanks..." taking the other file she discretely watched out of the corner of her eye as Montoya went around to Noro's side or the table to read the file on that side, probably to give her some semblance of privacy.

She didn't realise how grateful she was for it until she was granted the privacy.

Purposefully skimming the information she only layer attention to names that cropped up, Catherine and Willis turned up surprisingly often, Catherine more so despite not being around as long.

According to her birth certificate Willis was her father, despite her features saying otherwise, but it also said her birth certificate wasn't sighed so she could only assume Catherine had written his name on the piece of paper.

If her birth mother had done anything it had been looking out for her and Jason, by putting Willis down as her father he wouldn't be able to get away with just abandoning her by claiming he had no responsibility for her.

She wondered what Catherine Todd had been like when she wasn't chasing a high, her memories of her birth mother were far and few in between but she was still curious. Not because she was craving a maternal figure in her life, Sabine was her mother now she didn't need one, but because of the mother had had and so closely missed.

Jason's name immediately caught her interests and she felt a smile grow on her face when she read that he'd found a home after waking up in the hospital due to his injuries the night they'd been taken in.

"Here." Turning the file around in her hand she pointed to the brief paragraph about her brother and felt her smile turn tense when she saw the disbelief in the two adults eyes.

"Jason Todd... Marinette you kid are a fucking shonen protagonist I swear to God."

"What? What's so bad about Jason?" She felt her hackles metaphorically raise.

"Kiddo, your brother was adopted by Bruce Wayne - your big brother is one of Gotham's princes."

"..." 

How stupid had she been? She'd literally looked at a picture of Jason Wayne. She'd literally researched the guy and she hadn't figured it out.

What the fuck Marinette.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited reunion, but not quite.
> 
> Also, a question came up about how come Damien was just like 'aight this girl who I KNOW is Ladybug just nodded for a truce' and I just explained it as Damien acknowledging magical bullshit, but it should be better explained here

"Miss Montoya-"

"Renee."

"Right, Renee can I like... I don't know? Have something to calm me down? My heads spinning." Renee was quick to grab her arm and Marinette was grateful because she could feel herself swaying where she was, balance suddenly gone as the reality of the situation crashed down on her.

Jason had been adopted by Bruce Wayne.

The same Bruce Wayne she'd contacted and the same Bruce Wayne that had ran a background check on her. Did that mean that Jason knew she was in Gotham?

If it did... did that mean he didn't want anything to do with her?

No...no surely not. Right?

Had he given up on her? Had Jason decided that he preferred his new family over her? Did he prefer people that probably didn't always remind him of a mother who was never there and a father who was more than likely the person that Jason wouldn't hesitate to kill on sight if he saw him again.

When she put it that way it made it obvious that Jason wouldn't give a damn. A worse, traitorous, part of her mind said that that's exactly what she would do, cutting her losses early so as to avoid confrontation later down the line.

Kwamii she hated her mind.

"Here you go kiddo." Blinking she realised she was stabilized in her chair and Renee was holding a glass of water out to her.

"Thanks..."

"I'll go get one of the cadets to phone your brother Marinette, give me a minute yeah?"

Her eyes shot up to Noro as he sent her a friendly smile and winked before going to leave the room. As he was about to leave, a thought popped into her head, "Wait!"

"Something wrong?"

"I...uh...You two can call me Nettie...if you want? The only people that really call me Marinette are my teachers and classmates..." fuck was that embarrassing to get out. Why was that so difficult to say? It wasn't like it was some kind of intimate nickname... just one that she wanted people she trusted to use?

Was that weird that she trusted Renee and Noro so quickly? Maybe?

It would remain to be seen she guessed.

Noro paused, watching her for something she didn't understand before his shoulders seemed to lose some hidden weight she'd missed before and his smile seemed to turn that bit more genuine, "Of course Nettie. Everyone here just calls me Noro, but I guess if we're going by nicknames you can call me Roro."

With that Noro was leaving the room and Renee sat back down next to her on her side of the table. They remained in a comfortable silence for a few minutes as she sipped on her water and Renee took a few swig's from a coke can she hadn't seen her grab.

"Nettie huh? Where'd that nickname come from?"

Peering over the glass in her hands to see Renee giving her a smile she noticed the woman had also seemed to relax since she gave permission to nicknames.

"Jason..." She paused trying to think of how he'd started calling her that, "I don't remember how it came about actually...just that at one point my mama says I refused to go by Marinette."

She laughed looking at her glass, "Apparently I was adamant that my name was Nettie and that Marinette was such a stupid name that nobody would want it."

"You miss him don't you?" She nodded timidly, "I've never really been interested in the Wayne's, I always wanted to be a cop so I didn't focus too much on the bigwigs," Renee waved her hand dismissively, "so I can't figure out how someone so close to their brother would get separated."

"Is it not in my file?" It confused her why Renee would want to get the story from her when the file was right in front of the two of them. Finishing her water she placed the glass on the table and turned in her seat to look the officer in the eye.

"It says the same crap social services always spew about, finding you in a bad situation and taking you away to somewhere ' _better_ '." Renee's disgust was heard in her voice and she figured the lady probably hadn't had good experiences with social services.

"I'd rather hear what happened from you instead of some stiff who has less emotions than my can of coke."

The blatant sarcasm and nonchalance of the entire thing had Marinette grinning broadly and laughing.

"It's probably exactly like the file to be honest..." when Renee didn't seem dissuaded she continued, "Some kids Jason had worked with before, and had somehow managed to piss off, cornered us and tried to rob us. Jason put up enough of a fight to cause a racket so loud that someone called in."

It wasn't that interesting of a story unless she went into great depth but that wasn't exactly a reliable account of what happened.

After all she'd been so scared and focused more on getting away with her brother than she had on the words that flew through the air as Jason tried to bullshit his way through the situation.

"Now see that," the coke can (which surely had to be empty by now) was tipped in her direction and Renee suddenly gave off the aura of a very powerful and wizened soul, "is different from the file. Your file says they found you and your brother sleeping rough, with the only note of a fight being injuries your brother had sustained at some point prior to being picked up."

That... that was really stupid. Why wouldn't they include the fight that had been reported? That she knew she'd given a statement for? The people who would of been asked to take Jason in should of been made aware!

"Which is why, we always fact check, and when possible ask an eye witness."

And with that the wizened aura dissipated as the officer took a second to consider her aim before, with the most monotonous voice Marinette had ever heard, she uttered "Yeet." And got the empty coke can in the bin half way across the room in one shot.

"Oh wow."

"Cool trick seeming like a sage isn't it?" That hadn't been what she'd found cool originally, but yes.

The way her aura had changed and really enraptured Marinette did spark her as both sagely and a _very_ cool trick to learn, "It really comes in handy when I'm interrogating people. Turns out people are more inclined to tell you what you want to know if they think you already know everything."

Oh... Oh!

She'd been played.

"You are _so_ cool Renee."

The woman seemed embarrassed at that and averted her eyes although a smirk played at her lips, "Whatever Nettie, let's go see how 'Roro' is getting along finding a cadet capable of having a stable conversation with a Wayne."

-*-

 _**@BertinelieJokes** _ _This is not a drill, our mysterious possibly Wayne girl turned out to be related to a Gotham Prince? A little sister in fact?? Does this make her an honorary Gotham Princess??_

_#DickGrayson #NewWayne? #I'dStillFightForHer_

_-*-_

_**@DickGrayson** _ _New Sibling? New sibling has been in the city for awhile and I didn't know? One of my baby bros had a sister... I'VE BEEN DEPRIVED OF BABY SISTER SHENANIGANS!? @StephBrown and @CassCainWayne I LOVE YOU BOTH BUT BABY SISTER SHENANIGANS!?_

_#ASister? #BruceDidYouKnow? #OfCourseYouDid #NewWayne!? #ThreeYearStreakIsOver #PrepareToHearALLTheBrotherJokes #GothamYouAreNotReadyForTheLevelsMyClownaryReach_

_-*-_

She kept close to Renee as they left the spare office, social services files tucked against her chest as she trailed behind the officer through the office over towards where Noro and Bertinelie seemed to be trying to convince some poor cadet to do their bidding.

"No luck yet Roro?" Noro turned towards them with such an exasperated expression on his face she could feel the annoyance rolling off of him. 

The new nickname at least seemed to stop the two other officers from squabbling. "Roro?"

"What the hell happened in that office?"

"Renee please, officer Naughton is the only other officer I haven't asked and he's refusing to even acknowledge my request."

'Naughton' seemed to turn his nose up when he looked over at her and Renee, and Marinette hadn't felt so judged in a long time. "I'm an officer of the law, it's not my job to call pick ups."

She closed her eyes, watching as a vice she knew by now to indicate intense grief tightened its hold on Naughton's chakra. Opening her eyes she watched the slightest changes in his face. The incident was fresh then. "It's okay."

The four adults stopped talking at that, "Officer Naughton has to worry about his grief right now... it isn't fair to expect him to deal with something like this when he's had such horrible news."

They watched her and she realised she'd screwed up. It wasn't normal for people to know that much- "I just got the news ten minutes ago kid, what the hell?"

"It's here." She was rolling with this now she guessed, and tapped over her heart, "Grief is constricting you, I'm sorry for your loss."

* * *

After thoroughly freaking out the four adults and not explaining it beyond her being an extremely empathetic person she found herself, once again in an office although this time she was alone. Which she understood because at the end of the day Renee, Bertinelie ans Noro all had jobs to do.

This time around they were back in Noro's office, having gotten someone to eventually phone her brother they were just waiting on his arrival. The anticipation caused a buzzing under her skin that she had become accustomed to over the years.

Knowing constant motion helped diffuse the energy to a reasonable level she began bouncing her knee while tapping a melody into the wooden arm rest of her chair, keeping her mind on anything but the reconnection with her brother.

She was so scared. What if Jason really _didn't_ want anything to do with her? And she still had the issue of the hotel and Tikki and holy crap what was her life becoming?

Couldn't she just go back to that damn museum and let Rose be picked like the bastard wanted!? Everything would of been so much simpler that way.

_'Because then you'd blame yourself and you'd be unable to sleep at night knowing you didn't do anything.'_

**_' It isn't my responsibility to defend then at every predicament though. Ladybug's responsibility is Paris, and we're not in Paris. As Marinette I have no obligations to help anyone!'_ **

_' And yet you took fear toxin for a girl you barley tolerate.'_

Great. Her own conscious was calling her out.

Just what she needed.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng?" Looking towards the door she had to stop herself from gawking as Bruce Wayne stood in the doorway behind her.

She didn't nearly trip over her own feet to stand and greet him, _she didn't._ But she could feel how intimidating he was just from the quick glance she'd gotten before she'd gotten to her feet.

"Mr Wayne! I- It's lovely to meet you, but uh... what are you doing here?" Holding out her hand she posed the question, having intended to listen to his response but couldn't actually follow through with that when he grabbed her hand and it was like a magical zap shot through her body.

Blinking up at him she focused on his chakra rather than his physical body and wasn't sure how to respond when it was a pinged Chakra, one she'd seen across from her when the Bat had given her a warning.

Mr Wayne simply smiled at her and she watched as his mouth opened and closed, releasing his hand as well, as he spoke but she wasn't listening, she was too busy working logistics on what this meant.

Batman = Bruce Wayne

Robin = youngest of Batman's kids + the only one known to be biologically related to him.

Damian Wayne = Youngest, only biological child of Bruce Wayne.

Meaning, Robin = Damian Wayne. Which meant that the kid she'd shared a look with at the museum was Damian Wayne. That meant that Dick Grayson, Jason, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain all probably played a part in the bat clan in some way.

Okay...

"Father, I believe Miss Dupain-Cheng has figured out who you are, she isn't listening anymore. She's in shock." A semi-familiar voice broke through her thoughts and turning towards the voice she saw the boy who had been at the museum earlier on in the day.

Up close she could see the darker quality of his skin, in contrast with his father, and noticed that despite the scowl he seemed to have both as Robin and as Damien he looked like a normal child.

A thought struck her then and she has to avert her eyes, despite how rude it must of seemed, as she remembered that Lila had said she was dating this kid!

Oh kwamii! Lila had tried to say she was dating Damien and that both Robin and Damien were fighting over her! This was too good to be true!

"Ah sorry!" Snapping back to reality she found the two Wayne's waiting patiently for her to come back. "You're right Mr Wayne...?" Damien seemed to preen under being called Mr Wayne so she just went with it, "I have and its nice to meet you both properly this time."

"It's nice to meet you properly as well Miss Dupain-Cheng, but please feel free to call myself Bruce and my son Damien. There's no need for such formalities."

She nodded, "Of course, please call me Marinette then."

Marinette couldn't figure out who these two are here and they still haven't answered the question. "Shall we sit?"

"Okay?" Why she posed it as a question she didn't know but soon the three of them were sat down, "Not to sound rude but... why are you here?"

"Jason's file is out dated, so his co tact information was Wayne manor," that made sense, "So our butler Alfred was the one who answered the phone. When he heard your name he informed us that Jason had a sister before informing Jason who was on the other side of the city at that point, Jason asked if we could get here to confirm that you were alright.."

... that didn't feel right, why was he being so vague-

"Nettie," turning her head she saw Renee stood in the doorway glaring over her head at the Wayne's, "You need anything kid? Another glass of water, a familiar presence?"

"I'm fine," ah, so Bruce had been aware of Renee listening in. Okay, she might want to ping the officer actually, "Thank you though Renee, for everything."

She gave the most sincere smile she could manage, and watched as Renee's features relaxed. "We managed to contact your parents, they've asked that you call them back okay kiddo?"

"Of course."

"Sorry for the interruption Mr. Wayne." And with that Renee was leaving the room and Marinette turned to face Bruce again before the blocked chakra she'd come to know was Red Hood whenever the vice was choking his chakra pinged in her chest.

Seconds later she heard a voice she hadn't heard properly in years, "Where the hell is my sister!?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to @Just_A_Fan for letting me use their comments as tweets. Your tweets are golden

She was slightly ashamed to say she froze up upon hearing Jason's voice. A million and one thoughts ran through her head, doubts that he wanted anything to do with her, plans on what to say to him.

All of those things ran so quickly through her mind she blue screened.

But just as quickly her brain restarted and she was rushing through the office door and collided with another person near instantly.

Thankfully neither of them had been moving quick enough to knock either of them to the ground but she very nearly didn't bother to look at who she'd crashed into before she heard the voice, "Nettie?"

Head shooting up she came face to face with Jason, stupid white tuft of hair she'd seen in passing on Red Hood and everything. He repeated her name and all she could do was nod before wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his chest.

"Shit Nettie, I was so worried about you - Bruce didn't tell me you were in Gotham and then you were at the museum and I couldn't do _anything_ until it was too late." He buried his head into her hair and she tried and failed to not cry, "If he had known you were in Gotham I wouldn't of wasted a second in finding you. I swear."

"I missed you, I missed you so much." She pressed herself deeper into Jason's chest, trying to convince herself he really was in front of her.

His arms tightened their grip around her.

"I know Nettie, I- crap, I know. I missed you so much as well."

Though she was crying her eyes out she couldn't help but try to joke, to make this seem like something she shouldn't be crying about, "It's not fair if I'm the only one crying you know?"

"...Really?" She could hear the tears in his voice even if she didn't feel them, "Who would of thought?" Jason paused for a few seconds before his own little son filled laugh entered her ears, "I won't tell if you don't?"

"Okay." She nodded, feeling the tears getting worse. Seconds later she felt tears hit the top of her head.

-*-

 _**@APennyworth** _ _@DickGrayson Yes Master Dick, most unfortunately we are all blatantly aware of the levels of ~~foolhearted tomfuckery your antics and shenanigans can equate to~~ [ahem, pardon my french, I mean] clownery of your role as eldest sibling can achieve.  
_

 _#newestwayne_ _#puresunshine_ _#_ _masterbrucewherehaveyoubeenhidingherallmylife #alwaysnicetohaveagranddaughteragain_ _#keepstheruffiansinline_

**_@GreatBatsy_ ** _Wayne butler slaying his employers with style and grace? It's more likely than you think_

_#He'sALegend #AnIcon #OneCouldOnlyWishToHaveThisMansCourage_

**_@TimDrakeWayneOfficial_ ** _Do you ever have a moment where you forgot something existed and then it returns in your life and slaps you across the face? That's Alfred's Twitter account at me. Right now._

_#AlfredPennyworth #YoungerSiblingsAppreciateWhenTheirOlderSiblingsGetDestroyed #GrandfatherOfTheYear #WeAreNotRuffians #IAmNotARuffian #ImLyingToMyselfAndImPerfectlyAwareOfIt_

-*-

After a few minutes of crying she found herself having to let go of Jason as Noro called him into the office to talk about what was going to happen for the rest of the trip.

Bruce was in the office as well, and she presumed it probably had to do with how the class were going to be wards of Wayne Enterprise for the rest of the trip and how the logistics of that would work in light of recent events. Which meant she and Damien found themselves in Noro's office (She just wanted to stop being moved around now) with Renee.

Damian was sat in the far corner of the room, having moved the chair Renee had moved to the desk back to its original position, reading a book that's title was written in Arabic firmly ignoring the rest of the world.

She didn't blame him in all honesty. It must be incredibly awkward for him, having to sit here with a stranger as his father and brother figured out what to do with said brothers newly discovered sister.

Marinette needed to do something, anything, but for now she was stuck in this office and she couldn't even try and talk to Damien about the vice on his chakra because Renee was here.

"We aren't keeping you from work right?"

It was eating at her that she was keeping the officer from her work, from helping people who actually needed it. Renee waved her off, "No, don't worry Nettie. My shift ended an hour ago, I'm just here to make sure everything gets sorted for you."

"Oh...thank you." Embarrassed she looked away, itching the back of her neck in a nervous tick she'd been sure she'd broken a few years ago. "Do... do you mind if I use one of the phones to call my friends? Chloe's probably tearing up Gotham looking for me by now..."

A quick glance to the window seeing a twilight sky made her more determined to phone Chloe. Her friend wouldn't care about the shit she could get into, you didn't mess with the hive and not expect the Queen to destroy a threat.

If Chloe had to she knew the blonde would tear down every building in her path. She just hoped she hadn't racked up enough property damage that her Father couldn't pay it off.

"Go ahead Marinette." Sending a thankful smile she leant forward and grabbed the receiver for the office phone on Noro's desk and quickly dialled Chloe's number into the phone.

It rang twice before an incredibly snappy Chloe answered, " _What!?_ "

It took a few seconds for her to collect herself, "Hey Chloe." The sound of glass breaking and the voices of her friends were all she heard before Chloe, sounding so fragile it caused physical pain to hear finally responded.

"Nettie? Nettie holy fuck you're alright! Where are you, why weren't you responding, why aren't you phoning off of your phone, never mind that are you okay what's going on?"

"Chloe, breath." She let out a laugh, hating how you could hear she'd been crying in her voice, "I can't answer your questions that quickly. One at a time."

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck. Nettie, alright this is fine you're talking to us you're alive okay fuck, are you alright?"

Settling back into the chair she'd been sat in she let herself relax, "As alright as I can be." She started making motions with her free hand, "Got some scratches on my arm from when I attacked Scarecrow and the doctors said the toxin wouldn't properly leave my system until tomorrow but aside from that? I'm alright."

"Why didn't you respond when we called you Bug?! We've been phoning for hours! We've been so worried, P had to get involved so that Chloe didn't go on a rampage!"

"Fuck off Agreste! I knew all of you were conspiring against me!" Chloe's voice was just as loud as Adrien's as she retorted.

Adrien's question tipped her off that she was on speakerphone, something Chloe probably should of warned her about.

"My phone got smashed at some point in the fight, so I haven't been able to even turn it on. Plus now's the first time I've been able to get on a phone." Closing her eyes she took a few seconds to stop herself from crying, they were alright. Her friends were alright. Everything was fine.

Everything was good, everything was okay. She'd done a good job, everyone was alive and breathing and - and -

"Nettie breath, come on Nettie everything's fine. You're good, we're good - everyone is alright. Everyday Ladybug strikes again okay? You were so brave, and its okay to cry." Kim started helping her calm down, before Nino finished his encouraging words, "Wait until we can smother you in hugs before you cry okay? We want to make sure you're safe. Is that okay? Do you think you can do that?"

At the mention of crying she brought a hand up to her face and felt the tears trying to trail down her face and furiously scrubbed at them, trying to be rid of them. Tears weren't a sign of weakness but it was so embarrassing crying in front of Renee and Damian, Marinette had never been one to cry so she didn't understand why she was doing so much of it recently.

"I- I can try? Don't know how good I'll be at keeping that promise." She tried to laugh but it just came out as a hiccup, "I'm so glad all of you are alright."

Alix's voice, so so loud and joyful, was a good contrast to the sombre tone that had begun to suffocate the conversation.

"Thanks to you Nettie, god you were badass as hell!" She could if sworn she heard 'here here' from someone on the other end and found herself fighting a losing battle to not start giggling.

"You were all like ' _My fears should give you a show_.' And then when he got close enough you were just like Bam! And 'Pow!' and! And when Red Hood showed up he literally took a step back you were so intense!"

Marinette had a feeling Jason had stepped back from seeing her again, rather than the brutality in which she'd attacked Scarecrow, from the reports she'd found people on fear toxin could turn from sweet innocent cry babies into one man SWAT teams when their fight or flight responses were set off.

It was pretty intense some of the reports she'd read, the limited footage that was on the internet of Scarecrow attacks told her she probably could of been more aggressive.

In a way she'd gotten lucky with the batch she'd gotten. If you could call being injected with fear toxin in any way shape or form lucky.

"Where are you right now Bug? We kept to the hotel because by the time we got back Chloe was a hellion and then the police were interviewing us about what happened and we've just got out of interrogations."

She could just see Chloe getting angry as her phone, despite being on speaker, was passed around their group like they were all playing hot potato.

The image of a fuming blond with twitching talons as she told herself over and over again 'Nettie said violence is a last resort, Nettie said violence is a last resort' was enough to distract her from her feelings of sorrow.

"I'm at the police station right now," a very loud 'WHAT!?' came from the other end if the line and she had to pull the receiver away to not go deaf, "I was brought here after the doctor said there was no need for an overnight observation. They've contracted Mama and Papa and are just discussing now what's going to happen for the resist of the trip."

"Shouldn't you be in there with them though? After all its you they're talking about?"

"About that," she let an awkward laugh out, "They found Jason. And he's I think agreeing to act as my caretaker for the rest of the trip?"

"You think?"

"Well they're currently talking it over so I'm not a hundred percent-"

"THAT IS NOT THE KIND OF THING YOU DON'T KNOW MARINETTE!"

"I can tell you're not exactly happy about the turn of events but-"

"Not happy!? Not happy Nettie-Bug!? You're practically alone in Gotham with your brother who - excuse me most of us didn't even know existed until today- and you don't know what's going on?"

Chole's voice suddenly became the only voice she could hear clearly, indicating that Chloe had both regained control of her phone and had turned off speaker phone.

"And you say I'm not exactly happy with the turn of events?! Of course I'm not happy! That's it, I'm going to you now what prescient are you at?"

Panic was her only emotion as she tried to think of a way to placate Chloe.

It wouldn't be safe for her to leave the hotel at this time, not when she would create enough of a ruckus as she raised hell and high water that everyone with a need for cash or homicidal tendencies would be at her like a bloodhound in minutes.

"Uh..." She flicked her eyes towards Renee who was giving her a concerned expression, covering the bottom of the phone she whispered over to the woman, "Could you calm her down? She's insisting on coming to pick me up, Chloe will get mugged the second she's on the street."

It hit her then that she'd just been speaking French to her friends. She didn't even know if Renee _spoke_ French. She was such an idiot-

"Sure Nettie, Chloe was her name right? I'll calm her down."

Handing the phone over she waited with bated breath as Renee explained who she was, why she was at the prescient and why 'No miss it wouldn't be safe for you to go out on Gotham's streets alone at this time. Marinette is in safe keeping and if we deem her new caretaker unsuitable I give you my word I'll keep her safe for you."

* * *

After what felt like years - and a phone call to her parents to assure them she was in fact still alive and kicking- and in reality had only been two hours Jason and Bruce exited the room they'd been in, with Noro looking no worse for ware as he excited behind them.

Which she supposed was a good thing, because Jason's expression when he'd gone in the office was stormy at best and 'alright I'm here to fight, just try and set me off' at worst.

And even as Mr. Wayne, Bruce still managed to be intimidating.

That could also be because she was just envisioning him with the cowl and Bruce may of been a genuinely nice, calm, man.

"Well Nettie, seems everything is in order. Let's just sign a few pieces of paperwork and you and your brother should be set to go."

She tried to express all of her thanks through the smile she gave Noro, but feared it wasn't enough to really show him. Hopefully he would understand though.

Getting ready to trail behind Jason and Bruce, Marinette nearly screamed when she a hand touched her shoulder. Normally she wasnt so jumpy, but she knew it was all the anxiety from earlier on still lurking just waiting to ruin the rest of her day.

Turning to see who'd tapped her shoulder she came face to face with Damian who she'd, embarrassingly, forgotten was even there. In her defence however, the younger boy had been sat so quietly it wasnt hard.

That must of been something that came in handy when he was Robin, hopefully he wasn't always like he'd been when they'd first met. She didn't think flashing a katana and tutting like a self-entitled brat went well with most of Gotham's underground.

After the first time it'd grown stale for her, so she wondered how the rest of the people Robin encountered didn't just roll their eyes at the boy. 

... Maybe because most of them were on the business end of the Katana rather than it being used as a visual threat.

Yeah that made more sense.

"Yeah?"

To say she felt awkward talking to the younger boy was an understatement. They were a good meter and a half behind the adults, close enough to be clearly identified as part of the group, but far enough that when they whispered it took a lot for someone to listen in to them.

"You don't act like Todd." He seemed to scrutinize her and a few unsavoury words jumped to the forefront of her mind but she batted them away. Benefit of the doubt. "And the physical resemblance is minimal at best."

"Well alright then." In her dumbstruck moment that was the highest calibre response she could formulate. Then the rest of her brain caught up, "Nobody asked you but go off I guess."

The aghast look on the thirteen year olds face was priceless, "You're just a thirteen year old brat who seems to think I'll actually give a damn about how much you think I look like my brother, when I'm clearly mixed race."

She could see him fumbling for a way to get himself out of the hole he'd dug and it was incredibly funny to mess with the kid, "But like I said, go off boomer."

Damon's eyes narrowed at her, as if she'd said something he didn't understand but he had enough knowledge about the language she was speaking to gather the general meaning.

"An insult only works if the person you're insulting understands you."

Nodding Marinette tried and failed to keep the smirk off her face, "Okay boomer. I'll make you a dictionary of all the gosh darn internet whatsits that never existed in your day."

There was no attempt to hide the blatant sarcasm in her tone and the way Damian's expression scrunched up proved the poor kid genuinely didn't understand what the comedy aspect of the conversation was.

It was like staring at a fourteen year old Adrien Agrete again, new to the outside world and not yet tainted by memes. Kwamii it was going to be fun destroying this kids fragile sense of the world around him.

Marinette would have him spouting memes by the end of the night if she could.

"Considering the fact you're older than me, I would be careful about who you're insinuating is old." They reached the door to the front area of the prescient and Damian grabbed the door and held it open before she could attempt to. He gave a mocking flourish, "Age before beauty."

"Little shit." Was all she muttered as she walked through the door, knowing she'd played herself.

"I'm starting to see the resemblance now." She could hear the joke in his tone now, seemingly the kid had decided to not push her buttons after he'd figured out she could just outwit him with humour beyond his comprehension.

Which was kind of sad, because the poor kid didn't know 'okay boomer' memes. Kwamii she hoped Jason didn't want her and Bruce to get along because he'd hate her by the time she had to go home - Damian would be saying nothing but 'okay boomer' if she got her way.

"Stick your resemblance up your ass next to the stick that's there."

Turning back towards the younger Wayne she noted the lack of a smile but the district twinkle of amusement in his eye, "It's utterly uncanny."

"Alright Demon Spawn, fuck off now. You've had your time to prove what a little shit you are." Jason was at her side then, slightly nudging her over to the front desk and she decided to head over, ignoring whatever her big brother and his younger brother were up to.

After all there hadn't been any bite to Jason's words so the animosity between them couldn't of been that hostile. If anything the past few minutes of interaction with Damian assured her that if he decided to be genuinely rude he probably could claim the title 'Demon Spawn'.

"You're crass language doesn't effect me Todd, maybe if you started using some of that advanced vocabulary you're supposed to have I'd take you more seriously."

"What the actual hell?" She whispered to herself, stepping up to the desk and reading over the stuff she was supposed to sign.

After checking it wasn't anything dodgy she signed the papers and turned to see Bruce watching his sons with some form of amused disappointment as they verbally assaulted each other as Jason gave Damian a noogie.

Next to him was Renee who said something about adoption before making her way over to her, "You're all set now kiddo?" At her nod Renee's smile seemed to grow, "Good, here's my number. If you need someone to talk to, or need to get away from these asses give me a ring." A small slip of paper was pressed into her hand.

"...thank you. For everything."

A hand ruffled her hair and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks at the form of slight physical affection. "Would you tell Noro and Bertinelie thank you please? I've already said it but I didn't see them on the way out..."

"Sure thing kiddo. Off you go now, make sure to keep the butt kicking of super villains to a minimum okay?"

"No promises."

-*-

Riding in a limo had been a novelty she'd grown used to over the past year and a half of being good friends with Chloe. The blonde got around exclusively through limo after all.

At the least though, to not appear rude, she tried to act like it was something extraordinary but... once you'd ridden a limo you'd ridden a limo. 

It wasn't as if the Wayne limo had anything extraordinary about it, besides her brother.

"So, Marinette, apart from this afternoon how have you been enjoying your trip in Gotham?" The trip was considerably less awkward than shed feared it would be.

That was probably partially because Damian and Bruce were across from her and Jason was at her side, not making physical contact but within her general orbit so as to reassure her of his presence without overwhelming her.

She was thankful for it.

"It's been an experience," she laughed to herself, "Meeting yourselves last night has probably been the high light so far."

"Yes, it was rather humorous wasn't it? I didn't even realise you were the same person until I'd done a quick once over of your school trips itinerary."

It wasn't hard to notice how Bruce's language was stiff, as if he wasn't sure how to respond to this kind if situation. Which seemed unusual -

"Cut the crap Bruce," confused she looked up at Jason to see mirth in his eyes, "Mind explaining why you sent me on a wild goose chase after Nettie ended up in the hospital though?"

She watched as Bruce's features relaxed ever so slightly, "You'd probably of scared the hospital staff half to death and with not knowing Marinette's condition I didn't want to set either of you off."

It wasn't hard to notice the minefield between the two men. It being incredibly obvious that both thought they were justified and not wanting to compromise.

"Thank you Bruce, for thinking of Jason's state." She turned to face her brother, "And thank you for still caring so much about me ah!"

Before she could react properly she was being crushed in another hug and couldn't find it in her to do anything but laugh and hug Jason back.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter today!
> 
> But this is mostly mindless fluff so it makes up for it I guess??  
> Also, all those who commented that Dick's sibling senses went off when Marinette set foot in Gotham are in for some fun this chapter!

The ride to Wayne manor in itself was incredibly uneventful with the most that happened being Damian and Jason stating another feud and Bruce stage whispering to her that, unfortunately, they were always like that.

Once they got to the manor however it was an entirely different situation. Climbing out if the limo with the Wayne's behind her seemed incredibly intimidating despite having held pleasant conversation with them for the half an hour care ride.

In all honesty it was only Jason sending her a disarming smile that made sure her nerves didn't turn her into a quaking mess.

She couldn't help it though!

Wayne manor was by far the fanciest building she'd ever seen outside of literal palaces. And sure, Adrien and Chloe both had extraordinary houses, but the Agreste mansion was a modern build and Chloe lived in a hotel so it was expected to be grand.

The building before her though held power and history the aura of multiple lifetimes overlapped in front of her and was so powerful they practically radiated from the building.

In fact it was so strong she didn't even need to to try and sense the aura, they just seeped into her vision, a gorgeous mess of blues and greens not unlike the northern lights.

Marinette was star struck to say the least.

"You'll catch flies." Jason nudged her shoulder and she straightened up feeling embarrassed at being so overwhelmed by a building.

"Well I mean flies are attracted to decomposing rubbish," she shrugged, feeling delighted as she saw horror settle into Jason's features as he seemingly realised the route her humour was taking, "and what are we if not decomposing skin bags awaiting the time we meet our maker?"

Just to her left Damian let out a snort, which was promptly followed by an exaggerated cough as if trying to cover up the fact he'd laughed.

Jason's look of horror had changed into one of utter betrayal, her stare told him he felt as if she'd thrown everything sacred in his life to the floor and spat on it.

Then with a kind of urgency that kick started her fight or flight momentarily he turned to Bruce and began to _beg,_ "It gets better right? It's not gonna be a kick to the face every time i hear a joke is it?"

And then turning back to her the pleading continued, though he sounded a tiny bit less desperate, "Nettie I am begging you do not become like the replacement." Okay well that was an interesting nickname for someone, "I'm nihilism is your way of coping with being Ladybug but please don't become Tim."

Oh. Tim Drake... oh damn he had been adopted after Jason hadn't he? But why would he call him a replacement? Had the mantle of Robin been taken from him prematurely to give it to Tim?

She hated to say it but did that mean the Red Hood's crime lord phase was Jason's teenage angst phase?

Marinette wasn't sure if that thought was the funniest shit she'd ever heard or pure unadulterated horror in the form of one conscious thought.

"I see no problem with Dupain-Cheng's humour Todd." The pleading look changed into annoyance as Jason spat his next few words over the top of her head.

"You never find it funny when replacement makes jokes like that."

"Yes well, Dupain-Cheng actually has a sense of humour and, unlike Drake, isn't sleep deprived enough to genuinely mean it when she says she'll jump into a vat of acid to avoid responsibility."

Marinette found herself absently nodding, "He's got a point Jason."

The horrified look returned to Jason's face, "Don't agree with him!"

-*-

"This is utterly ridiculous."

"No it's not, just say it."

She and Damian held eye contact, attempting to glare each other into submission even while knowing it was practically a futile battle. Marinette watched as Damian attempted to hold strong but something made him break and he looked away grumbling to himself in Arabic.

"Yes!" Fist pumping the air she grinned, turning on the stool she was sat at in Wayne Manor's ultra modern kitchen to face the youngest Wayne and pulled out her phone, "You've got to say it to adults if they're pissing you off, for comedic effect obviously because otherwise it's rude, or just anyone in general that's passing you off."

"But what does it even mean? I've heard the word before but it's meaning completely blindside's me in this situation."

"Boomer? You genuinely don't understand what it means?" The younger boy nodded, and though his expressions showed a carefully crafted nonchalance she could see through it. "It's a shortened version of baby boomers, so people born just after world war two, but you can use it on anyone really."

"No, no I understand that, but why use it as an insult?"

She softened her tone when she noticed the familiar aversion returning to his tone. It was the same way Chloe's voice would rise a few octaves when something alluded her understanding and she felt stupid for not getting it.

The best way to deal with it was soften her tone and attempt to dumb down the explanation enough without making it obvious that's what she was doing.

"Irony I guess? Because it's a stereotype that all baby boomers do is complain and act stuck up so people just started sarcastically saying it?" She scratched the back of her neck, "I'm not sure on how it became so prevalent in meme culture though."

The thirteen year old watched her, eyes narrowing as he presumably tried to figure out if she was messing with him or not. Then, hesitantly he leant closer to her, so as to see her phone better where she had it open on a search result for 'ok boomer' memes.

"Irony hmm... Grayson might find it humorous then."

Marinette had to fight to hide her smile as she saw the younger boy visibly relax as he began to mumble to himself about his brothers. It was actually adorable, not that she'd let the hellion know, no way was she risking invoking the wrath of his katana. "May I ask what the benefit of teaching me this is?"

"Well, my dear padawan, "she could feel her heart actually experience a sorrow filled pang as she watched his brows furrow at the word 'padawan', "My plan is to terrorize Jason in any way I can. I missed nine years of messing with him. If I can help you experience your own generations culture through that then so be it."

"So...I'm an accidental apprentice of yours in this 'meme culture's," he used air quotes and it was hard to not laugh. She barely resisted because the younger boy wasn't looking at her. If he hadn't been looking away it probably would of been impossible to control the laughter, "as you call it, all in order to terrorize Todd after being separated from him for nine years?"

"Yes padawan. That is the plan."

"I will never understand you people. First Grayson says it's normal for siblings to be physically affectionate, then nobody in this family bar Grayson is." She could see the confusion surrounding the boy grow more clouded as he tried to sort out the 'conflicting' messages about family he'd been taught, "Then Drake says it's normal for siblings to share interests but all this family does is argue and debate interests rather than share them."

He turned to her then, scowl in place, as he stared at her as if she was some nasty equation his teacher had given him for homework that he'd rather not understand but knew it was beneficial to.

"And now you. Dupain-Cheng, you give me the impression of a dotting sister and yet you insist on aggravating Todd. Why? Why do all these messages conflict with this damn family?"

Despite no indication from his tone that he was getting worked up she could hear it in his words, an underlying frustration that must of been bubbling up for awhile and she had unfortunately (or fortunately she supposed) triggered to finally go off.

"I don't think they conflict... all families are different, and everything your brother's have said siblings are like is true, but it's just that this family is different."

It wasn't what Damian probably wanted to hear, it wasn't a real explanation but it'd have to do for now. 

"Master Damian, Miss Marinette am I interrupting?" Turning her head over her shoulder she found Alfred standing in the doorway, discreetly sending a concerned look Damian's way.

"You're perfectly alright Alfred, I was just explaining some memes to Damian. Do you need us for anything?" It was distressingly easy to see how Damian relaxed when she diverted the attention from him.

She sincerely hoped the rumours Robin was a reformed child assassin weren't true, but Damian's limited understanding of family and of pop culture in general prompted her to believe he'd at least been segregated for a decent portion of his life. Up until he was ten in fact.

Kwamii, had she just adopted herself a little brother?

-*-

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _You ever meet someone you'd throw hands for? That's #Me at this thirteen year old kid I just explained 'ok boomer' memes to. He's my little brother now, and I'll protect him and his memeless existence to my last breath._

_#IsThisHowBruceWayneFeels?? #NewBrother #He'sTinyAndDoesn'tKnowMemesHowCouldIResist #NettieNoIHearYouSay #NettieYesIRespond_

**_@RataTatTat_ ** _Being in Gotham has influenced our beloved shitposter, she's acting like a Wayne_

_#WeStillLoveHerThough #NewBrother? #OkBoomer #TheBSlurStrikesAgain #ProtectingMemeCultureOneThirteenYearOldAtATime_

_-*-_

It turned out Alfred just wanted her and Damian to vacate the kitchen so that he could begin preparing dinner, after offering to help and being rejected she found herself in the living room, sitting relatively awkwardly as nobody dared to break the silence.

She didn't know if the silence was a sacred part of the nightly Wayne routine and so didn't dare try and intervene.

Not her home, not her strange nightly sittings in silence for close to half an hour.

Marinette presumed it was a regular occurrence because Damian procured his book from before out of thin air, again, and Bruce just seemed to be sleeping with his eyes open.

Jason was the only one that didn't seem like a stone statue. His posture in the chair was tense, as if not used to the stiff looking chair, and his eyes darted around the room filled with anxious energy.

"So is Dickie bird actually showing up or am I living the next week and a half constantly on edge waiting for him to pop up out of nowhere?"

The question, at surface level irritated but laced with a fondness she found suited Jason far more than the three inch ice wall tone he had with Damian, sparked her interest.

It was also successful at rousing Bruce from whatever dissociation he'd been experiencing. "Dick should be here at half six," they all spared a glance to the clock, "Which was twenty minutes ago... I assume he's stuck in traffic."

"You assume, worlds greatest detective my ass."

Jason mocked the title, causing a little giggle out of her she quickly tried to suppress even with Jason purposefully trying to get her to laugh now that he had succeeded once.

"How dare you laugh Nettie, that there is _the_ Batman, he could make you drop off the earth and nobody would know."

She couldn't take her big brother seriously when he said the 'ominous' threat in a tone one would associate with telling cheesy spooky stories around a campfire, which was to say sarcastic to the point of an eye roll and with none of the original 'spook' factor remaining to even cause goosebumps to prickle.

"I'm more scared of Chloe when she's on a shoe hunt, no offense Bruce."

The man chuckled, waving her off, "None taken."

"Bruce why the hell did I have to find out about a new sibling through twitter and not through the family group chat!?"

Seconds after Bruce finished speaking a tall man stormed through the into the living room, eyes an impossible shade of blue that stunned her for a second with how synthetic they looked before regaining her footing in the real world when she pieced that this just be Dick Grayson.

Grayson seemed to have completely missed her presence entirely, apparently too stunned by Jason being in the living room and annoyed by the lack of response to his question to care for much else. "And Jaybird is back!? Did you all start a new group chat without me?"

"Smooth Dickie bird, rant about a new sibling and then completely ignore her."

"As if I'd do that- oh shit." Grayson turned towards her and she shyly waved at the older man, he looked between Jason and her a few times before settling on her, "Holy crap, Jaybird has been holding out on us. You look like a literal ball of sunshine."


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think I might go back to one chapter per day instead of trying to force out two per day, hope you guys don't mind.
> 
> Also! A question from last chapter should be answered now - how Mari figured out the identities because I can't keep claiming magical bullshit and hope to get away with it without explaining said magical bullshit.

At Grayson's compliment she feels her face heat up, it's been a long time since anyone outside of family and her friendship group have given her a compliment of that calibre.

(And Jagged and Penny didn't count, they _were_ family after all.)

She tries to smile back but it feels strained to herself, how does she respond to that? Is there proper etiquette?

Is it...is it appropriate to respond with a meme? No? Should she just say thank you to him? Yeah. Yeah that sound like the right thing to do. "Thank you...?"

She curses herself for making it sound like a question but she's still highly unsure if it's the right th ring to do. Do people actually thank people for compliments or was that just something Chloe did as an excuse to preen?

Kwamii this was embarrassing.

However Grayson just gave her an understanding smile, and his eyes seemed to soften (there was something in that action that the back of her mind starts to tell her she knew which secret identity was his) as he spoke to her, "Don't thank me, did I make you uncomfortable with the compliment? I tend to be overly affectionate; I understand that its not something everyone appreciates."

Well that wasn't what she was expecting in the slightest. It was nice though.

"Don't worry! You flustered me is all, I'm not used to getting compliments from people that aren't my friends!" Waving her hands about she hated how much she reminded herself of her fourteen year old self.

She felt pretty pathetic right now in all honesty- her great facade taken down by one measly off handed compliment.

"You're actually adorable. I can't believe Jason got so lucky with a sister like you." With that Grayson swung round to face Jason and Marinette watched the reactions of the other Wayne men in the room.

Bruce was just watching the room with a slightly amused expression and Damian was...gone.

"Have you figured out who is yet or do you need a hint?"

It took all her strength not to scream when Damian appeared on the couch next to her, book missing and entire body relaxed as if it were perfectly normal to near teleport and sneak up on someone literally capable of tracking your soul.

(Not that Damian necessarily knew that last part but still... him not knowing didn't null her abilities!)

Stupid Batman training.

She was going to blame it on that, because there was seriously no way he snuck right up next to her otherwise.

"I have a hunch. But it's not as easy to tell like it was with you, Jason and your father." She spared a glance over to her brother, seeing him now relaxed and lazing in the chair seemingly choosing to act like a brat to piss Grayson off.

"Mm. I've been wondering how you figured father and I out, care to enlighten me?" Looking back to Damian he too had his eyes on his elder brothers.

Thinking back to their conversation in the kitchen she wondered if he was studying them to try and figure out how this specific dynamic fitted into the conflicting ideas about family that were swirling about in his brain.

"I deal with magical artefacts," not giving away the miraculous completely, just letting the boy know enough for his interest to be kept, the boy nodded but his eyes didn't leave the two older men, "I'm also the guardian of the artefacts I deal with - they all have similar properties to my own, which is why the Parisian superheroes are all similar."

Not technically a lie, but she wasn't telling the whole truth either.

She could just see Master Fu now though, mind wiped of the miraculous' and him suddenly getting a shiver down his spine but not knowing why. He'd always said he would know if she spoke about being the guardian's.

Damian nodded along and finally turned his head to face her again. His eyes told her that he didn't truly understand what she was getting at, not that she'd expect him to, and so decided to elaborate.

"The previous guardian taught me a variety of tricks to be able to protect myself and the artefacts. One of which was sensing and seeing people's chakra."

That seemed to click it in the younger boy's brain and his gaze turned curious, "So you're able to sense us and when you shuck fathers hand it connected as Batman's chakra in your mind?"

Marinette nodded, he'd got the nail on the head, "Yeah. I didn't know who you were when I realised you were Robin though, all I knew was that you were Robin and you more than likely knew I was Ladybug."

"And Todd?" She hid a smile, seeing how curious Damian really was now.

Before he'd seemed totally invested in ignoring the rest of the world and when she'd started _trying_ to teach him memes he'd done so begrudgingly, but now he genuinely seemed to want to keep the conversation going.

It was good progress if she was being brave enough to call it progress. She'd had better take the opportunity to keep his attention than let it slip away.

"Jason's chakra is pretty distinctive - like yours, I knew the minute he walked into the police station Red Hood was there, and then I heard his voice and it clicked." 

"Distinctive? How so?"

It took everything in her not to wince. You didn't just _tell_ people they had a vice on their chakra. Not only was it probably a sensitive subject Marinette also didn't know what it _was_. Informing them about it could make everything worse.

"You both have... _something_ that makes them distinctive. It's fluctuating, even now, but you both have it."

She kept eye contact hoping that the boy would drop it when he realised she was being purposefully vague. It wasn't fair, she knew, but until she could figure out _what_ was ailing Damian and Jason she didn't want to make a definitive comment on it.

"...Is it unnatural? Like its suffocating our chakra, is that what you said you see?"

Damn, well it appeared the kid had an idea what this might be, and due to how he was describing near exactly what the vice had been doing she felt uneasy.

How long had it been going on that he knew what it was like when the damn thing fluctuated. "Do you think you know what's causing it?"

"Yes." His voice sounded desolate, "I believe that I know what is causing it. It isn't something that can be cured unfortunately."

' _cured_ ' was spoken as if it were merely an inside joke, a very distasteful one that brought up painful memories.

"You asked if I'd figured Grayson out, can I run my guesses through you?" Green eyes blinked, a haze slowly leaving them as Damian slipped back into the world around him.

"I suppose I can attempt to guide you to the correct answer." She grinned, "However I will not go as far to confirm or deny any particular answer."

"Fair enough." Turning her eyes back to Grayson she tried to focus on his Chakra without having to close her eyes, hoping to potentially guess who he was before getting the answer.

He wasn't terribly tall and all the bats had black hair and blue eyes (bar Damian, Batgirl and Black Bat) so there weren't any defining features to go off of because if the domino masks the bat clan wore.

Something though, had gone off in her head when he'd comforted her... there was something familiar about it-

"He's Nightwing isn't he?"

Damian's features were schooled, no shock or agreement breaking through the facade he put up. But she could tell from the chakra she was sensing she was correct.

"What brought you to that conclusion?"

"He's the right height and build," that hadn't tipped her off but it again wasn't lying, "not to mention the fact that his smile is the same in and out of the suit."

"His smile?" A sliver of humour entered Damian's words and she took that as a win, "I'm sure Grayson will be pleased to know his award winning grin will be the thing to oust him to the world."

A giggle fought its way past her lips at that and the boys shoulders lost a bit of their tension, "Has he actually won an award for his smile?"

"Unfortunately." The dismay in the younger teenagers voice made her grin broaden. This was amazing, she thought the stupid celebrity stuff Jagged told her about was just bullshit to help Penny convince her to remain anonymous a little while longer. But no. It was real.

It was amazing to hear that from someone who had no motivation to make her weary of the media, it just meant it was that little bit more reliable.

"Oh and thank you." 

"For what?"

"For confirming that Grayson is Nightwing. It's amazing what people are willing to share when they think you already know everything."

The boy was silent next to her and when she grinned at him he started to splutter, "You played me!"

She nodded, choosing to ignore the stares of the older Wayne's, "Like the cheap kazoo you are."

-*-

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _You know the best thing about now having a little brother who's clueless about memes? I get to destroy his fragile sense of reality. We're gonna start slow, some 'ok boomer' memes here and a few 'same hat!' memes there but then I'm going to introduce him to 'that sounds like a you problem' ones._

_Prepare to join the real world kid, it isn't an easy existence in the wild meme west but it's an honest living._

_#WhoAmIKidding? #ImSoExcitedToTeachHimMemes #I'llHaveAFledglingMemeEdgeLordYet #HeIsNowMyPadawan #CheckMeOutTeachingMyGreyJediMoralsToThisImpressionableChild_

_-*-_

_**@DickGrayson** New Sister! Just met her and?? So nice, gets embarrassed at compliments and laughed at my terrible puns? I'm going to have so much fun having another sibling to coddle!_

_#TheStreakIsOver!! #NewWayne #ICan'tSeeAdoptionPapersButIPresumeThey'reSomewhere #Sister!!_

-*-

 _**@TimDrakeWayneOffical** _ _I thought it was a hoax and Dick got on board but I have a new sister?? What?? Dad explain please - I've got too much paper work to get through so now I have to wait to meet my new sister? How has my Dad finished his paperwork already??_

_#I'mSeventeenWhyAmIJointCEO #NewSister?? #IFeelSorryForThemHavingToListenToDick'sJokes #HeProbablyDoesn'tHaveNewMaterialAndIsJustRedoingHisOldJokes #ThatSoundsLikeAYouProblemThough_

_-*-_

Dinner wasn't as loud as the living room had lead her to believe it would be. Or at least, this was them getting lucky.

Normally it was 'full of the boisterous idiots and all they'll do is go on jabbering about unimportant fancies' as Damian had informed her.

The boy, for some reason, had decided he was sticking to her side for the rest of the evening, she had a feeling it had to do with the fact she managed to metaphorically pull the rug out from under his feet and his curiosity would be sated when he saw it was a one time thing and she didn't normally get people to reveal carefully guarded secrets.

But for now she was stuck with him sitting next to her at the dinner table, with Jason on the other side with Bruce at the head of the table and Dick seated at his right.

You could tell the hierarchy of the family simply from how people sat, Bruce as patriarch sat at the head. Dick as his eldest was his right hand in managing his siblings and so on and so forth.

"So your parent's own a bakery in Paris? That's _sweet_."

She sent a dirty look Jason's way as he grinned at her. "What? Is the joke not to you _tastes_? Don't act so _sour_ about it."

"I want a new brother," she turned her head to face Damian properly as Jason cackled behind her with Dick and Bruce discussing something in low whispers behind her as well, "Damian I'm adopting you as my little brother. Unfortunately there's nothing you can do about it, and from now on I'll be ensuring your contact with ingrate's like Jason is extremely limited. Any objections?"

"I do believe you said there's nothing I can do about it, so _Nettie sister dearest_ how have the years in Paris treated you?"

"Nettie, c'mon. I'm sorry for being a _pain_ in the backside but you can't just disown me!"

"Do you hear that buzzing noise Damian? I think there's a fly in the dining room."

The younger boy smirked at Jason over her shoulder, "No _Nettie_ I think it's just the static."

"Dick, please you've got to help me here."

"You brought it upon yourself Jaybird."

"Traitors the lot of you. I thought you valued loyalty demon spawn." 

Deciding she'd had her fun she turned her head back to talk to Jason again when an arm was slung around her shoulder and as if just realising what he'd done after doing it Damian did his best to not sound embarrassed as he answered Jason's taunt.

"I do Todd, after all my loyalty is to my big sister."

"I'll kill you demon spawn." The threat wasn't really there and Jason looked amused if anything at the recent development.

"Good luck Todd. Hell spat me out last time and heaven has expectations."


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter today, I didn't have time to write anything today until late but I'll be damned if I lose my update every day streak!
> 
> Also take this as part one of the entire chapter, seeing as I'm too tired to wrote the whole thing out.

_**@Is_This_A_Stretch_??** _ _@TimDrakeWayneOfficial you're co-CEO right? Why not just take your paperwork home??_

_#ThatSeemsLikeASolution #StubbornChildren #PaperworkIsAdultHomework_

**_@TimDrakeWayneOfficial_ ** _I forgot that was an option? I've been raised on too many American movies where one partner will say 'Leave work at the office' which now that I think is usually a cover up for an affair... OFF TO SEE MY NEW SISTER I GO!_

_#Homework!? #IThoughtIHadEscapedAtLongLast #IWasWrong #ShouldIMakeMyDadDoMyHomework? #CommentFIfYouThinkIshouldSeeIfICanGetMyDadToDoMyHomeworkForMe_

_-*-_

Dinner was more lively after that with Bruce and Dick still remaining in quite conversation but joining in every now and again.

Most of the conversations were just Damian and Jason rustling each others feathers and Damian playing up the spoilt brat persona that seemed to piss Jason off tenfold whenever he made a snarky comment. The other conversations they had though we're about interests and general things she and Jason had missed about each other.

Like the fact that Jason was currency working towards an online degree in classical literature and classics or that her once necessary need to know how to sew had blossomed into a seedling career in the fashion industry.

As they all finished their food however everyone settled down a d Bruce addressed her from the head of the table, "Dick and I were thinking Marinette, you're going to need to collect your belongings if you're to stay here under Jason's care for the rest of the trip."

"Okay..." It made her uneasy thinking about returning to the hotel and having to face Lila and Alya.

She could just hear them now, claiming that she hadn't taken the toxin to actually prevent Rose from taking it, but had instead taken it to make herself a martyr.

Then Lila would go off on a rant about how she'd overreacted to the toxin for attention because ' _The last time I was in Gotham I got injected with the tox_ _in and I wasn't nearly as aggressive! See this is how Marinette normally acts with me when she corners me!'_

Just the thought of what the girl _might_ say was putting her on edge.

"Someone would go with you of course, Detective Noro informed me that the doctor said the toxin wouldn't fully flush out of your system until tomorrow and we wouldn't want you vulnerable in that area if Gotham while in that state."

It wasn't supposed to sound condescending, and she didn't think it was honest! It's just... Bruce needed to work on his wording when he was talking to other human beings.

Maybe all the years as Batman had shaved away at his people skills? Maybe Bruce hadn't had any people skills to being with?

"Thanks." Deciding to be gracious Marinette didn't point out the slightly rude statement, "Are we going right now?"

"That would probably be for the best, yes."

She nodded again, waiting patiently to be allowed to leave and nearly jumped from her skin when Jason just casually stood up without being told it was okay to leave the table. "C'mon Nettie the night isn't getting any younger."

Jumping up quickly she sped her way though a thank you before rushing off after her brother who'd already made his way to the front door, two motorcycle helmets held lazily in his hands.

"You ever ridden a motorbike before Nettie?"

Marinette couldn't help the awed look that spread across her face. "No. Closest I've been is a mo-ped."

Jason scrunched up his nose at that, "Let's show you how to live them little sister of mine, you haven't lived till you've ridden a bike."

"Really?" She accepted the helmet and jogged to keep up as they made their way down the front steps of Wayne manor and began walking around to a garage extension, which from the interior was defiantly a modern addition but from the outside looked naturally apart of the building.

Maybe it has been stables at one point? Was Wayne Manor old enough to have stables? And who even had stables attached to the main building anyway!?

"And here was me thinking jumping into the mouth of a t-rex was the way to live."

She was shot a look over the shoulder that said she would be explaining that later but for now they climbed onto the bike, her dear older brother smothering her in protective tendencies as he made sure her helmet was attached seven ways to Sunday.

-*-

The hotel seemed more grand at night, at least from street level. It hadn't looked this beautiful from the told next door. 

That might of been because Marinette hadn't been able to see the way the lights cast demonizing shadows upon the gargoyles above or how the greenhouses windows looked even more dense with greenery when mixed with the darkness.

It was extremely beautiful, in an extremely gothic way.

Climbing off of the motorbike she handed the helmet to Jason who promised to keep the bike running so she could do a quick in and out without worry.

After promising that she would take as little time as possible she entered the hotel, seeing the tired receptionist from the morning (Willows she thinks. Normally she'd know but she was too tried and wanted nothing more than to just relax and sleep) look up at her in shock before starting on a spiel in English she barely listened to.

"Miss you're alright! Your class came back without you and we all saw that your group got attacked by Scarecrow! Are you alright, do you need anything to help you readjust after the serum?" Willows was out of her chair, words spewing out a million miles an hour, "Your teacher wanted the key to your room but we denied it because we didn't have anything on record saying that you'd given her permission and her reasoning was stupid if you ask me and oh! The blonde girl left this in case you came back!"

A small non-descript note was handed over, folded neatly and sealed with a little bumblebee sticker showing the thing hadn't been disturbed since it was handed over.

"Thank you." Nodding her thanks she opened the note up and began to read it.

_Nettie-Bug,_

_Tikki got separated from you during the attack and apparently decided to hide with Plagg in Adrien's jacket. She's with Plagg still, poor thing hasn't stopped worrying about you._

_We broke into your room to ensure the miracle box was safe, that's also with Adrien and since you said you were with your brother we went to the liberty of exchanging your clunky suitcase for one of my carry-ons. Hopefully it will be easier to transport than your suitcase._

_Love, your Queen Bee._

A smile crossed her features and she folded the note back up, tucking it into the front pocket of her jeans.

"Again, thank you for everything." And with that she stepped towards the elevator and thankfully the receptionist didn't say anything else.

Getting into the small metal container she dreaded her decision as soon as she started moving upwards. What if Lila and Alya decided to go on a walkabout around the hotel?

She was screwing herself over here.

This could be a miraculous decision or it could be her undoing.

However the trip was uneventful and no one else joined the elevator, which made everything just seem creepier to her. The thing didn't even have elevator music so it was just her, and her thoughts.

Anxiety was a useless conversational partner, it didn't let her get a word in edge-wise.

The trip up ended mercifully quickly and she was lying if she said she didn't speed walk to Adrian's room. Knocking on one of hundreds of identical doors it seemed like an age before Adrien finally opened the door.

He didn't open the door properly however, it was just a crack for him to see out of, then a very Chat Noir esque head of hair sticking out the gap and then a tired voice calling out, "Bug?"

"Hey Adrien. I'm here for my stuff?"

"Yeah... yeah come in." Checking both ways before entering into the hotel room she elect out an audible sound of relief when Tikki's little squeal broke through the air.

The tiny goddess crash landed with the side of her face and Marinette couldn't control the sigh of joy that escaped her as the Kwamii and she were properly reunited.

She could of sworn she felt a physical weight lift once she and Tikki came into physical contact and that joy was lifted as Plagg flew up to her hugging her cheek as well.

However the biggest relief and joy came when she lay eyes on the miracle box. It was safe. The kwamii were safe, her friends were safe.

"I...uh... your bags are here. Chloe grabbed your rucksack to put the miracle box in , but would you rather carry it by hand?"


	21. Chapter 21

"I'll stick it in the carry-on, that way nobody sees it and gets suspicious."

"Okay..." hearing Adrien shuffle about behind her she made her way over to the miracle box and crouched next to it.

It's not that she didn't trust Adrien, she knew he'd do anything for her and vice versa, but her mind was telling her she had to check the miraculous'. When she did and found them all to be intact and in their slots she ran her fingers atop of them.

The magical energy that emitted from each of them reassured her they were healthy and the real deal.

"Hey Maribug," she looked over to Plagg, Tikki having taken residence on her shoulder while floated just off to the side, "The kid has been stressed since they couldn't figure out where you were. Don't be too hard on him for being cautious. He's just about ready to burst into tears."

She'd had a hunch Adrien's caution may have had something to do with that. Adrien had expressed a great distaste for hospitals, mainly because of his mother's disappearance having occurred after she went to the hospital.

Closing the lid gently on the miracle box she whispered an 'okay' to Plagg before she got up and turned just in time for Adrien to hand her the carry-on.

A quick look into his chakra showed Plagg's protective aura curled around Adrien more than usual with the tendrils the Kwamii sent out to her and Chloe being more intense than usual as well. Marinette accepted the carry-on before pulling Adrien into a hug, to which her partner responded by holding her tightly and trying to hide his crying - although being unsuccessful in the endeavour.

"I thought we'd lost you." She stroked the back of his head in a hope that it would tooth him even if just a little bit, "When they wouldn't let us go out and look in every hospital for I could- I could feel my heart stop **_Marinette_**."

It's the use of her full name, no nickname in sight, that truly shows her how terrified Adrien is. It's been a long time since Adrien had called her Marinette, the words are horrible to listen to, she images she'd feel the same if Chloe started calling her Dupain-Cheng again.

"Kwamii it was- you were so brave taking the toxin for Rose but please, please don't put yourself in situations like that again if you can help it." The blond pulled his head back and his face and eyes were red due to tears, "We're your family Bug, we care about what happens to you. And...and now you have your brother back so please..."

She held her best friend tighter, pushing back tears of her own and mumbled affirmations to him, never promises because she couldn't keep those kinds of promises but she swore to be more careful, to not needlessly throw herself into danger.

It was all she could do.

-*-

 _**@TimDrakeWayneOffical** _ _What is this bullshit? I get home, the car passing my elder brother driving off on a motorbike. Nothing strange. But no. Turns out my brother is taking my new sister to collect her belongings because she's staying with us?? And I missed her._

_By mere meters. What the shit??_

_#JasonWhyWouldYouDoThatToMe #NewSister #IWasSoClose #BruceWillDefientlyBeDoingMyHomeworkNow_

-*-

After she and Adrien calmed down and Tikki had properly hidden herself away inside the miracle box with the other kwamii they decided it was time to leave.

It'd only been exactly seven minutes, which she was genuinely astounded at, but she knew she couldn't keep Jason waiting. 

"I'll walk you out the lobby Bug... I don't trust those -" Marinette watched as Adrien near physically had to stop himself from speaking, "I don't trust some _people_ in our class to not jump you."

"Okay." She didn't bother to argue, if anything she'd been hoping Adrien would offer to walk her back down. The ride up had been unnerving.

"Going already Maribug?" Plagg flew up in front of her as they started to head towards the door and when she nodded the kwamii groaned, "Nooo! Do you realise how much I enjoy your company!?"

A chuckle broke free without her agreement, "Plagg if you want you can chill in my bag with Tikki tomorrow."

The little cat God changed his room quickly at that, "Well I suppose if that's an option..."

Adrien's choked up laugh, the remnants of tears refusing to move even still; clogging the happy sound up in the process, reminds her they need to go.

Plagg is quick to hide away in Adrien's jacket as they exit the hotel room and make their way quickly and quietly down the hall to the elevator. Everything goes smoothly until they end up running into excited teenagers tumbling out the lift as they stood in front of it, ready to depart in silence.

Nino and Kim register Adrien first, quickly explaining they'd gone down to the lobby to see if she'd come back yet only for the receptionist to say she had, and then turned to her - probably assuming her to be Chloe- and began to say how they needed them to join them in getting to her room before she did, humorously after finishing talking to Adrien they'd turned to enter the elevator again and had yet to actually look at her.

"Not gonna happy guys." Nino's mouth twisted and he finally turned to look at her, his and Kim's mouth dropping open as she smirked at the pair, "I can't beat myself to somewhere I'm not going."

"Holy shit Nettie you're actually here." Quicker than she could react she was engulfed on both sides from her two oldest friends.

Normally she would of enjoyed it, but the memories from earlier, of having her movement restricted, of not being able to move because _something_ was keeping her from moving, _something was stopping her-_

 _"Bug! Bug breath okay? You're safe, Bug, copy me. Just like we practiced, just like before okay?"_ Adrien's voice kept her grounded and she realised Nino and Kim had let go of her at one point and she now stood with her back pressed into the corner of the elevator, hyperventilating as Adrien tried to repeat the breathing exercises they'd gone through with civilians multiple times as Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"In one two three." Adrien's small grin stood out to her the most, "Hold one two three four, you're doing great Bug, out one to seven remember?"

The elevator chugged along quietly with her three friends giving her encouragement before she could finally breath properly. She'd only got her breathing under control for a few seconds by the time the elevator reached the ground floor.

That was where they all shuffled out slowly into the lobby to see a pissed off looking Chloe pacing around like a cat and twitching he hands occasionally as if by doing it enough she'd be spontaneously start growing talons.

"Nettie-Bug!" The blonde noticed her almost immediately and the tight hug she was pulled into helped relax the keyed up energy she'd just gained in the elevator. "Never scare me like that again okay?"

She gave a tiny nod and pulled back, "Why are you so prissy?"

Nino and Kim had moved towards the door where, now that she was closer could hear two semi-familiar voices wafting in through the ajar door. Adrien was at her side, like a guard looking over his charge.

"Those two bitches saw you enter the building," unlike Adrien, Chloe had no qualms about calling Lila and Alya names, "Luckily I saw you as well and we all rushed to get to the ground floor. We must of just missed you, thank kwamii," the blonde gave her shoulders a squeeze as if really affirming she was there, "They saw the man you're with waiting out front and put two and two together- finally. They're harassing him for everything he's worth."

Kwamii, Lila and Alya were gunning for Jason now, not even five seconds after associating the two of them together.

"A man?" Adrien's voice lifted a key or two as if not believing that she was capable of traveling with someone of the opposite sex that wasn't her best friends or her father. "Nope. What if he tries to hurt you - you're always saying how dangerous Gotham is-"

"I don't think Jason has any interest in hurting me kitten." Her statement caused two reactions from her blondes. One, Adrien went bright red at the nickname, and two Chloe looked gobsmacked.

"Big brother Jason? _**That**_ Jason?"

At her nod Chloe's face went pale, "Holy crap Nettie, I-I see where the Ladybug persona comes from, he's intimidating as hell."

"Not really." She started to make her way over to the door and from all four of her friends she was sent a look asking if she was crazy, "Jason's like a teddy bear actually."

If the teddy bear was an actual bear, and you hadn't removed its teeth or claws for safety purposes before cuddling the hell out of it.

Adrien's response to finally processing it was her big brother was worth the five seconds of computing it took, "Sweet Christmas, Marinette I am _so sorry_ for insinuating that about your _**brother**_ of all people-"

"It's cool kitten," he stopped his mumbling spiel almost immediately, "You were looking out for me. That's all I could ask. Though... a bit if emotional support as I leave would be nice?"

With her friends, or at least those that were present, flanking her she deposited her room key at the front desk, with a quick explanation as to why she wasn't staying anymore and saying she'd already collected her belonging, before taking the treacherous few steps outside.

Immediately being out in the open at night in Gotham had her every sense competing alive, she didn't know if it was because of her being the guardian, and her body was evolving to become primed for noting a possible danger before it formed or if it was just the angst Gothamite in her waving a walking stick like an old lady and telling her if she wanted to get herself killed she shouldn't drag her friends down with her.

Probably the guardian thing but the mental image of the Gothamite was too funny to pass up on.

"You realise Marinette is dangerous right? I'm saying this as a concerned classmate, you should probably just send her back to the hospital and lock her in a psychiatrist ward, she isn't stable at the best of times - I'm terrified of what she's going to be like with the toxin I'm her system."

Ugh, Lila playing the ' _concerned_ ' classmate card again. Kwamii just kill her already.

"Marinette is not unstable you little brat-" Jason's voice was scathing but Alya didn't have enough brain cells to notice the threat in it.

"But do you really know that? I used to think that as well but over the past few years? The girls coming unhinged!"

"Good job I'm in Gotham then huh?" It was the Todd way to be as extra as possible when making entrances and exits and so she made sure to be as sarcastic as she discretely could as she announced her presence. "Crime capital of the world, the domain of the clown Prince if crime, the Bats hunting ground, breeding place of crazies and murderers alike."

Yawning she nonchalantly stretched as if the conversation was boring her. "I could go on to be honest, but I want to get back and I'm sure none of you want to be mugged so lets get this show on the road."

Jason snickered at her unintentional pun and she shot finger guns at her older brother, disregarding the looks sent her way. "Slut."

It whispered so quietly she almost missed it, but the thing was a Gotham street at night let everything that wasn't supposed to be heard echo.

She swore it was the city's 'fuck you' to the incompetent criminals and a small apology to its non-criminal citizens.

"What the fuck did you just call her?" Jason's words had turned to icy venom now and she felt her heart rate pick up as she watched the black vice start to rapidly grow as she watched Jason's anger grow. 

In her purse she felt Tikki move about in discomfort.

Alya's face as she realised Jason knew French was almost as amazing as watching Nino be the one that had to be held back, and by Chloe of all people.

"Seeing as I've never done anything but receive a cheek kiss from a long dead crush I don't see how the insult applies to me Alya, but go off I guess."

"Nettie-" 

"It's fine, really. Let's just go?"


	22. Chapter 22

"It is not fucking fine Nettie!"

She tried to keep the bile out of her throat as she watched as the vice around Jason hissed and flexed like a predator, as it continued to act antagonizing she felt like it was almost trying to verbally encourage Jason to hurt the girls, or to do something he couldn't come back from.

So, being an absolute idiot and not wanting to be responsible for _two_ dead classmates (not to mention the fact she'd called dibs on murdering Lila a long time ago), she stepped in between them and her big brother.

"No it isn't alright," she raised her hands slowly, so that Jason could see them and knew she was trusting him to not attack while she was defenceless - she'd like to think he wouldn't attack at all but the venomous and icy rage that was radiating from him mixed with the vice made her think maybe it wasn't _all_ Jason in front of her right now. "That was the wrong wording."

The street was silent and behind her she could hear Lila and Alya's trembling breath.

Marinette had half a mind to sarcastically tell them that they shouldn't be accepting her help because she wasn't stable. However the joke would probably fall a little flat right now.

"But there's no point rising to their jab, Jason." The gasps of shock from Nino and Kim had Jason's eyes flashing over to them momentarily, "I know it's not true, my friends know it's not true and the school know and have shut the rumour down before."

Mentioning the school probably wasn't the best idea, because Jason stiffened slightly. But for the most part he seemed to relax.

That didn't last long.

"It doesn't matter it people know it isn't true. They shouldn't be saying that _shit_ to begin with!"

Despite his raised voice she could feel his anger simmering down, only slightly, but it didn't matter how little or how much, all that mattered was that his anger was starting to subside.

"I know," she softened her voice, making it sound more sympathetic and watched as her brother seemed to reel his anger in more when he noticed the shift in tone, "But like I said, I really just want to go home and forget about this for now okay? And I really don't want my friends," here she gestured to her friends making it clear those behind her were not included, "to get mugged."

They stood in a stand still for a few seconds, Jason's body rattling with rage slowly starting to still and the tension in the air slowly starting to lessen.

"Fine. For now." The words were terse, no room for negotiating in them at all.

Marinette knew what that meant, he'd drop bit right here and now but later, when they were both calmer and there was no risk of someone's temper snapping and resulting in either if then getting hurt, they'd continue this conversation.

"For now." She nodded and that was that, "I just need to say goodbye and we can leave."

At Jason's own nod she turned quickly and speed walked over to her friends. Their looks told her one thing and one thing only, every on had just realised Jason had been about to do something _very_ stupid.

"I'll see you all tomorrow okay? Get back inside before you all catch a cold."

Mutely they nodded before enveloping her in a group hug which gave her the opportunity to see Lila and Alya making a quick get away inside the hotel.

As if the hotel would stop Jason if he really wanted to go after them. She decided that was a rather sadistic thought, one she'd rather not have become a common occurrence. 

The toxin was probably still messing with her.

Kim held on a little bit longer, as her surrogate older brother after their years of misdemeanours together, "We're definitely seeing you tomorrow?"

She pulled away and made her way over to Jason who handed her a helmet which she promptly slid on, "Yeah. Wayne Enterprise tomorrow, be on your best behaviour you guys, I'll know if any of you did something stupid tonight."

Of course Nino and Kim wouldn't realise she was implying Plagg and Pollen would snitch on then if they did something now that she'd given out a hidden request for them to do so, but they still stood up straighter.

Climbing onto the motorbike she grabbed onto Jason and have one final goodbye to her friends before they sped off. The journey would have been fine, she was sure, if it hadn't been for Jason's vice howling at the loss of possible violence.

It disturbed her that she was beginning to understand it.

-*-

 _**@SupermanSucks_NotBatmanSponsered** _ _Just been scrolling through the #onlyinGotham tag bc y'know I miss my home city? And what do I find? We have a new Wayne and they're biologically related to one of the other Wayne's and the media hasn't mass ran the story?_

_Are we finally reaching a point where Gotham media is respecting its citizens??_

_#ProbsNot #BruceProbablyMadeThemNotStalkHisNewKid #GoodForHer #onlyinGotham #MetropolisIsNotWorthAllTheHype #WhyAllTheSunI'mAGothamite #WeDoNotNeedToPhotosynthesiseLikeTheRestOfYou_

_-*-_

The ride back to the manor was a journey stained with awkward silence and trepidation. Neither wanted to bring the topic up, even though they both knew they should, and the tension became electric.

Marinette swore, if she touched another human beings skin she'd give them an electric shock at this rate.

Because it was an awkward trip it seemed to take hours, but in reality took less time because this time Jason was speeding. When they did eventually get back to the manor they both stayed on the bike for a few minutes.

"We will be talking about what happened Nettie. But... just enjoy yourself tonight, we'll talk in the morning."

Climbing off the bike she turned to face her brother, watching carefully how his hands flexed on the handles and the vice was flaring again. Not good, he probably needed time to cool down.

"Of course, I'll tell Bruce you're going on a walk before coming back in."

The silent thanks in Jason's eyes told her she'd said the right thing, that giving him space was probably the best option. The vice hissed again and _something_ dangerous flashed in Jason's eyes.

She made a quick getaway then, hearing Jason suddenly begin uttering curse words as soon as she left the garage. As she got further away his voice rose and she knew he was probably going to break something before he came back into the manor.

Marinette just had to hope it wasn't himself.

Taking the steps two at a time she readjustment the strap of her borrowed carry-on before knocking on the door. She was glad to see Alfred's face with feeling so tired, she went to tell him about Jason but he just gave her a few soft words about understanding that 'Master Jason oftentimes needs to let his emotions out to avoid 'blowing' up constantly.'

It unnerved her slightly because she never remembered Jason as a hot head. Argumentative and cocky maybe, but he'd never been one to blow up.

Then again, childhood trauma.

Entering into the manor she found it difficult to accept that Alfred would honestly take time away from spending it with the others to put her bag in her room. Chloe's assistants had never bothered because they were hotel staff, this was a full blooded _servant_ it felt so peculiar.

Though she had a feeling if you asked Bruce what Alfred's position in the household was, you'd hear a familial link before you heard a job title. It was sweet, she guessed. She still wasn't really grasping the fact people still had staff that worked for them and did all their chores and stuff thing.

As said before, Chloe's 'helpers' were hotel staff that the blonde queen bee unfortunately (at the time) managed to convince her father to let her boss about.

Once in the entrance way, and that was also something she was also having trouble with - comprehending the sheer size of the whole thing- Alfred briefly directed her to the living room and disappeared up the stairs seconds after a thank you left her lips.

At least she'd managed to thank him before he vanished in the winding maze that made up the manor.

Moving through into the living room she found herself awkwardly stalling in the doorway as a new face, a boy maybe a year or two older than her, was seated in the living room.

Much like he had been with Jason, Damian was in a deep argument with the new addition. This time the venom on his tongue sounded just that little bit more real.

Sibling grudge then, though if her estimation of the others age was right it would make sense. A 17/18 year old and a 13 year old vying for their parents attention and affection was bound to result in a few ruffled feathers.

They were close enough in age to compete for the attention properly, but too far apart to properly cooperate. That may of just been Damian though.

Something clicked in her head then, noting why the kid looked familiar. When she'd been trying to research the Wayne's she'd come across this kid more than once. Tim Drake.

What had Jason called him 'Replacement'? Marinette could imagine that with a nickname like that resentment would float about, which could be influencing how Damian treated the older boy?

After all the tween had seemed so unsure how to respond at all to his siblings. Or he was a brat. Unfortunately her money was leaning more towards it being the brat option.

"Marinette!" Grayson's voice was still loud and bubbly and she vaguely wondered where he kept all the energy and what drugs she'd have to take to reach the same level of hyper artificially. Even more vaguely she wondered what would come first; her dying from all the drugs or being arrested first.

"Hey," she tried for a smile but couldn't manage much more than a quirk of the lips and a small wave, "Jason's taking a walk, my classmates put him in a sour mood."

Grayson pursed his lips at that and Bruce and Damian didn't seem to really express much concern for it, but that was probably because 1) she wasn't a big part of their family, if she could even be classed as part of it and 2) She didn't know how to read them yet and checking chakra was adding to her growing exhaustion.

"Okay, Marinette this is my third eldest son, Tim Drake." Bruce stood from his seat, Tim following quickly after stumbling slightly. One quick look in his eyes showed he was as sleep deprived as she was, "Tim this is Marinette, Jason's younger sister, and if I remembered what you said at dinner correctly you've taken Damian under your wing?"

"Of course." Her smile grew ever so slightly, "He needs someone to espouse him to teen culture."

Tim's own half there smile twitched at the wording, "He listens to you? Whenever I try to teach the demon spawn anything he just ignores me and calls me a cretin."

From his place over on the couch Damian called over and his response made her heart sore, "That sounds like a you problem Drake. Now, stop making my sister lose brain cells and go hide in your coffee den."


	23. Chapter 23

"..."

Marinette, despite being elated, couldn't help but stare at Damian along with Tim. Whether it was because she was just so proud and didn't know how to react, or it was because while she'd been intent in getting Damian to experience teen culture she hadn't been sure it would work she wasn't entirely sure. No, actually that was a lie, she knew exactly why she was staring.

In other words she'd just experienced a miracle and needed a few more seconds to process.

"Holy shit ." Tim's words broke the silence the two of then had become trapped in, and Grayson told them to watch their language but Tim didn't seem to hear, "I was not expecting _that_ from demon spawn."

Even if it was slightly rude she speed walked over to Damian, ignoring how Tim's eyes followed the movement as if waiting for her to retreat, and crouched in front of the younger boy on the couch.

The thirteen year old stared at her, questions floating around in his eyes that were partially disguised by a cold disinterest. 

"What?" The unease in Damian's voice spurred her on.

"Words do not describe how proud I was just then." It was an experience to watch as Damian's eyes widened by fractional amounts and his mouth parted - stuck in a word he lost the ability to form- all the while his skin took on a blush. "That was perfect delivery Damian, no hesitation, no stalling whatsoever. You went in for the kill."

She was laughing by the end of her words, but it was the kind of laugh you knew was reserved for ironic statements rather than poking fun.

"I don't think there's any words to express how elated that made me feel." She stood from her crouch and smiled brightly at the boy, glad for the distraction from her worry he'd unknowingly gave her.

Turning towards Tim she bowed her head in apology, a habit she'd picked up from Sabine, "Sorry for being rude then, perhaps we can continue our conversation now?"

If Tim's next word hadn't been exactly what it was she'd of thought he was extremely nervous, "Perhaps."

But she knew it was some strange teenage culture spy code saying he too knew memes and would most certainly respond with them if given the chance.

Another grin, this time more mischievous, grew on her face. "All right, keep your secrets."

"One does not simply quote dead memes, Marinette."

Now this, this was going to be fun.

-*-

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _My padawan just made a meme reference?? I'm crying, do any of you know how proud I am? And I didn't even need to make a deal for my first born! And I now have a meme friend in the state's- just spent the past ten minutes talking in exclusively vines and memes, this is amazing._

_#PadawanIsLearning #TearsOfJoy #MyHeartSwellsWithPride_

**_@Curtains_Lurtains_ ** _What meme did he make reference to?? We want need to know!_

_#BabyMemer #WeAreSoProud_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _That sounds like a you problem_

_#NoHastagsThisTime #ButIForSomeReasonNeedToHastageThat_

**_@Curtains_Lurtains_ ** _Is...Is that the answer or are you memeing??_

_#Confused?? #AreTheShitpostGodsMessingWithMe_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _Perhaps_

_#NoHastagsThisTime_

**_@Till_The_Cows_Come_Home_ ** _Could you be slightly less of a shitposter? We're a bit confused...._

_#ThisFeelsLikeIt'llDevolveIntoASawGame #GuessTheMemeButEverythngIsAMeme_

_**@NettieBringsDuPain** Same Hat_

_#NoHashtagsThisTime_

**_@Curtains_Lurtains_ ** _@Till_The_Cows_Come_Home I think you've angered the meme God's. We'll probably never get the answer now!_

_#No!!!! #PleaseWeWantToKnow_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _Ok Boomer_

_#NoHashtagsThisTims_

**_@Till_The_Cows_Come_Home_ ** _What I wouldn't do to get a concise answer. We're begging you!_

_#ComeOnOPLetUsShareYourJoy_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _Then perish_

_#NoHashtagsThisTime_

**_@Curtains_Lurtains_ ** _They're dead, @Till_The_Crows_Come_Home found dead in Miami._

_#TheFirstCasualtyInThisVenture #HowManyMoreMustDieForTheCause_

**_@NettieBringsDuPain_ ** _On that day humanity received a grim reminder, you live in fear of the shitposters and you were disgraced to live in those cages you call accounts_

_#DontSue #FearMyPower_

**_@Curtains_Lurtains_ ** _Its one thing to shitpost OP, it's another to change an AOT quote and manage to simultaneously shitpost and kill the entire opposition in one blow._

_#FearYourPowerIndeed_

-*-

It took half an hour for Jason to enter the manor, and in that time she'd gotten into a debate with Tim, comprised solely of memes, and had to sit there as Grayson thanked her over and over about Damian.

The thanks was awkward, especially with Damian being sat right next to her but she supposed that it would help encourage the behaviour? If he thought his older brothers were glad he was being more like a teenager he may continue the trend.

She really hoped he wasn't a one hit wonder memer.

Ha, boy wonder was a one hit wonder... yeah... She was reaching the point where she was losing a sense of humour to need of sleep. How long had it been since she'd actually slept for real?

A month or two? Night time attacks in Paris had been getting more frequent and day time ones more vicious leaving her to have haphazard power naps and randomly passing out until the next akuma attack or her bullshit sensors went off.

Sleep was long overdue.

Marinette didn't mention anything to Jason when he came in, but she took note that there were no apparent marks or traces of blood on him, so he probably hadn't attacked something.

Or he'd just used a weapon...

Never mind that. She gave her brother a smile and he gave her one back before mentioning his head to the clock and telling Bruce it was getting close to curfew.

That was pretty obvious code, or that may of been the fact she knew their identities. If she went with Nightwing being Grayson then that would mean Tim was probably Red Robin, as the only other male member of the family with the right body type.

Before she could be prompted to leave the Wayne's to their night time shenanigans she stood up, stretching overly obviously, "Well, Jason's right it us getting pretty late. I don't want to seem rude, but is it okay if I take go to the room I'm staying in now?"


	24. Chapter 24

Bruce lets her leave without question, which she's thankful for because otherwise she'd probably accidentally reveal to Grayson and Tim she knows their identities and she doesn't know if they know hers so it really wouldn't be a good thing to do.

After all she understood the Bat's rules to keep identities a hundred percent hidden. It was logical and with being Bruce Wayne beneath the cowl the risks associated with others knowing your identity was tremendous.

At the least she was vaguely a nobody, her fashion alter ego had been gaining more traction but for the most part Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a nobody.

She'd like to keep that for as long as possible, the less was widely available about you the less people could exploit you or your family if your identity was compromised.

That was one of the reasons she'd freaked out when Adrien's identity had been revealed to her, and when Chloe (under the control of an Akuma when she'd been low) had revealed her old teams identities.

Chloe was a flight risk because of her father's position, but Queen Bee had secured herself as _not_ Chloe somehow through persuasion and a lot of Kwamii magic that made her appear differently to people who didn't know it was Chloe. 

Alya... well Alya ran the ladyblog. Which at the time had been most trusted source for information on Ladybug and akuma attacks. She was the perfect target to go for (Hawmmoth had left her alone though, probably realising that she wasn't a valuable piece in the game anymore after her credibility dropped) if at the time Hawkmoth had wanted to get to her.

Nino... Nino had been controlled before, and so had his little brother, it was all top easy to akumatize people again and out of everyone who had been revealed it was Nino who posed the worst risk - because at the time he'd started to suspect she was Ladybug. (She'd convinced and 'proved' him wrong with Kwamii magic and Kagami, but if he'd been alumatized with the inclination she was Ladybug? She can only imagine the **terror** that would of accrued from Hawkmoth hunting her down.)

Her desire for uncompromised secret identities hadn't always been so pure though.

Of course, in the beginning when she'd first started out it had been for personal protection - at thirteen she'd been more worried about how old Chat was and how high on the creep scale she'd need to rate him if his advances became... more. And later, when she got closer to people, people who she didn't trust to Hell and back, it had been worry for them and how they'd react knowing she'd 'lied' to them; on thinking back she realised that the friendship with Alya had never been exactly healthy and even then she'd been an enabler (an enabler to Marinette's unhealthy actions but an enabler all the same.)

But as time worn on and Tikki drilled it into her that if the Cat and Ladybug knew who the other was, willingly (that had been the stipulation that had saved her), they had to be replaced. 

She'd been selfish, and scared, and longing for _something_ that made her feel alive and happy and made her useful to people that didn't want to exploit that kindness. So, every time Adrien had tried to convince her she'd shut him down.

Because she was selfish, and paranoid, and Marinette wanted something she didn't have to share with the world or even another person as egotistical as that was.

Fu had chosen her for her selflessness, but Marinette had never been selfless. She was just exceptionally good at hiding how selfish she really was.

Marinette had wanted to keep Ladybug to herself, in the only capacity that she could.

It has taken Adrien nearly dying on her to realise how selfish it had been. Because it was a partnership and that required trust. And to maintain balance she needed to know she could trust Chat Noir in and out of the suit.

By the time the reveal occurred, on Adrian's behalf unwittingly, she'd already become Guardian, and by that point the Kwamii had agreed that the ancient law was futile because the Cat and the Ladybug had never fought another kwamii before, had never worked in such tandem before, had never nearly broken apart like she and Adrien had because of personal issues before.

That reveal might of been the thing that saved their friendship.

Adrien, seeing that she was Ladybug, someone who could of destroyed Lila in a breath if she wanted, who had tried again and again for pacifism, could see she'd already taken 'the high road' and that telling her to do so was asking for inaction.

Something that as a Marinette, as Ladybug the creation half of balance and as the Guardian, she could not allow, in fact was not allowed to conform to.

It had been a wake up call for the blond, and since that moment he'd stood by her, even when they'd both realised the romantic feelings they harboured didn't extend to alter egos - something she had feared for so long would break the pair of them apart- and even as they realised they'd both changed from the thirteen year olds they had been.

Because, as Adrien had explained to her, he was the Black Cat. And the Black Cat's job was to stand by the Ladybug, and it was a friend's job to stand with their friends and what kind of person would he be if he failed both roles simultaneously.

The point stood that she understood the need for hidden identities, even if revealing hers had worked her retainer anonymity had played a role in that.

That and it had been her closest friends (Bar Nino and Kim) that knew her identity.

But the world wasn't kind to vigilantes the way it was to teenage magical pendant holders, but then again the world wasn't kind to them either.

Returning to the room she stopped her musing, aware that thinking too much in a new environment was the fastest way to get lost.

Her sense of direction was poor to begin with, there was no need to encourage the inevitability of her getting lost to hurry itself up. After all, her luck was running dangerously high right now. 

It had to end soon and she'd rather it be later down the line- wait did the Scarecrow attack count as the end of her luck? Considering she'd gotten out of it alive, and with nothing more than a few scratches and bruises...?

Marinette wasn't going to tempt fate. It was a temperamental bitch after all.

Entering the room she noticed the bag she'd brought with her was untouched, the content of the bag not being out of the bag and when she investigated the inside she found the miracle box undisturbed at the bottom.

Nobody had routed through it, which was always a good sign. Taking it out carefully she placed it on the desk next to the bed before emptying out the rest of the bag into the appropriate places in the room.

Then, and only then when she'd down everything mundane she could do in the room, did she start the search of the room.

Every corner or crevice was checked for mic's and spy cameras, the phone (Kwamii was everything in this house original because the phone was a rotary dial of all things) was checked for physical wire taps, anything that could provide someone with the ability to watch her or listen in was searched for.

Only then, when even the adjacent bathroom had been practically turned on its head and she'd gone as far as to check underneath the mattress and bed frame, and come up with nothing did she allow Tikki out of the bag before opening the miracle box.

If Marinette was paranoid she could only imagine how paranoid Bruce must be. She highly doubted he'd of let her in the manor to stay over if she hadn't figured him out before hand. Probably one of Jason's many safe houses would of become her home for the next week and a half.

Not that she would of cared. As long as she wasn't in close quarters with Lila or Alya for longer than was required she was content with anywhere.

Well, if they'd ended up near where Willis Todd was staying currently (something that for some reason had also been in her file, even thligh she was sure he had no legal rights over her anymore) she just might of thrown a fit. She'd sworn to herself the next time she saw the scumbag she'd make sure he regretted everything he'd ever done to Catherine and Jason.

It wasn't very Ladybug of her, but she didn't give a crap. Ladybug was an ideal she stood for, but just like the majority of politicians what she stood for did not always align with what she believed.

(Violence breeded more violence, and blood would have blood - but sometimes Marinette didn't care about consequences. She wanted to get revenge for so many things, she wanted to destroy people for all that they'd put her through but she relented.

She was allowed some thing she would not relent on.)

Upon opening the miracle box the Kwamii were quick to fly out, all whispering to her at once in a flurry of concern and promises of protection and inquiry into the new location.

Collapsing onto the bed she sighed, watching the ceiling with a lack of any substantial interest she took her time to reply.

"There was an attack in Gotham, we got caught up in it... I ended up under the effects of a drug that resulted in me attacking our captor." Even to herself her voice was tired and bordering on lifeless, where had the distracted happiness from earlier dissipated to, "I was put into the hospital after crashing - I think it was because I overdosed on the drug..."

A few more questions were thrown at her but she chose to ignore them for now, "Afterwards I was at the police station, my brother and his family ended up taking me in. That's where we are now, my brother's adopted fathers house." She yawned, the day was beginning to catch up to her, "I had to go back to the hotel and collect you guys and my stuff."

"Are you alright though Marinette?"

Her brain was a little too fuzzy to realise which Kwamii was asking.

"Not really... I'm tired and I still have fear hallucinations inducing drugs running through my blood and the only people I trust with my life are half way across the city." She brought an arm up to cover her eyes, the shade of white on the ceiling turning vulgar before her eyes, "Not to mention I haven't phone my parents and I _need_ to do that but I can't muster up the energy to even think right now."

"Oh, and I'm also stressed and trapped in a perpetual panic that Hawkmoth is going to attack and I'm going to be either too sleep deprived to do anything other than die, _again,_ or I'm going to lose my friends and the miraculous."

It was quiet for a while, the tension in the room building as her anticipation to hear that she needed to get over herself growing.

But it never came.

She waited a while longer, keeping her breath even and low so as to not miss a word that might be said by the Kwamii's, but still nothing.

"Are you guys still there or have you all gone back to your box?" She still didn't bother to remove her arm and when silence persisted for awhile longer she finally removed her arm, seeing an empty room and a single folded piece of paper on the bed next to her.

Unfolding it, it took all her willpower to read it and not just lay there and sleep. 

_Marinette, we Kwamii are not the best at human emotions, we have all of them and experience all of them but in a detached sense. As such we decided the best thing for you was space while we tried to figure out what to do._

_We hope you don't think we're rude, we just want to make sure we can actually help you._

It would of been better if they'd nudged her when they left but whatever, she figured this was fine. Everything was fine.

Yeah. Totally.

All she had to do to believe that was ignore the tears streaming down her face again as the day - the attack, the aftermath, the reunion, the worry and the confrontation - caught up to her again in all it's flaming dumpster fire glory.

Just ignore the tears. Just ignore them because she couldn't get addicted to feeling like this, lest she let Hawkmoth have his way.


	25. Chapter 25

She wakes up screaming.

Screaming, crying and her fingers are clawing at the sheets beneath her but she doesn't know why. Marinette can't remember what had seconds prior been haunting her and she finds that all the more horrifying.

All that remains in her mind is shadows and a voice that she's sure is a familiar one, but if at too faded by now to discern who.

As she stops screaming, air too thin as it enters and leaves her lungs, the motion in the room becomes obvious and her senses catch up to her. The Kwamii are fluttering about and shouting to each other as they do something in the bathroom and Tikki is pressed to her cheek again.

Distantly she can hear footsteps but thinks nothing of it as she clutches the sheets still.

The clunk of a glass of water being set down on the bedside table has her eyes speeding over to it, seeing some of the Kwamii's floating just above it.

"A glass of water helps after a nightmare correct?" Kaliki floats away from the glass and up to her face, nuzzling her as well and she feels so numb, so unsure, Marinette has no clue what to do.

She's still crying, and it doesn't seem like that's going to end anytime soon. Sleep seems like an exhausted option and this isn't her house and it isn't the hotel so there's nowhere she knows of that she can go to to calm down.

The shadows on the walls seem to taunt her and as the Kwamii's surround her, as if protecting her from them, she barely manages to get the lamp, that's on the other side of the bed, turned on.

It just barley puts up a fight against the darkness and that's when she realises the curtains are closed, only a sliver of moonlight entering in.

There's a knock at the door and it terrifies her, because in her trapped prey state she'd immediately checked the chakra and it has a Kiwanis attached to it, one she doesn't recognise.

Seeing as she's the guardian it means one of two people are outside her door, as delusional as it sounds. Either the holder of the butterfly miraculous is outside of the holder of the peacock miraculous is.

"Miss Marinette are you quite alright?"

Alfred. But that... that makes _no sense unless-_

"No." Even to her own ears her voice sounds broken.

A few moments pass before Alfred speaks again, "Is it alright if I open the door miss? I have found, through the years, that company after a nightmare eases the pain of it."

The premise makes her consider caving but her fear reminds her that she is not in an environment where she can consider herself safe.

She'd been lulled into a sense of security hours before, by her brother's closeness and the temporary distractions but now she is hyper aware of how much _danger_ there is.

Not to mention the Kwamii aren't moving, seemingly locked around her.

"Can we talk through the door?"

"Of course."

The lack of hesitation makes her feel slightly better. It's a small luxury, this boundary that Alfred is agreeing to maintain, but it makes the situation slightly better.

'...What do you normally talk about after a nightmare...?" She sounds so pitiful, so weak and in need of coddling. It knocks her stomach.

This is not something she can allow. This is indulging in luxuries she cannot afford but... she's _so tired_ and she knows she can't get addicted but maybe just for once it will be alright.

Maybe it's alright to be selfish again. Just for right now.

If that's all the time she'll have to justify being selfish for she believes she can do it.

"Anything and everything Miss Marinette." Alfred laughs and its a sound she doesn't quite understand, but knows she would immediately connect it with the umbrella of 'grandfatherly', "Master Bruce talks business figures with me, I have yet to truly understand every word of jargon he spouts."

Marinette finds herself giggling at that, and the small chuckle Alfred gives in return tells her that that was probably the intent. "Master Dick tells me about the things he and Master Wallace, a good friend of Master Dick's from childhood, believe Master Bruce to be ignorant of." Alfred ends that admission with a content sigh, "Master Jason tells me stories about you."

There's something so profound in those seven words that she swears she stops breathing, "And about how you were the brains behind your operations. He also tells me about Master Roy and the things _they believe_ Master Bruce doesn't know about."

"They're not very good at hiding things from their father are they?"

She thinks Alfred knows she knows, after all it would be one of the first things she'd tell someone like Alfred if a stranger was living in her house. But even if she thinks Alfred knows she knows she won't risk making a hint towards it.

"The title 'World's greatest detective' is not to be laughed at or easily earned."

He knew. That made a weight lift slightly.

"And... what do Tim and Damian talk about? I imagine Tim tries to talk business and Damian talks about swords."

Another moment of silence on Alfred's part and his next few words are said with humour, "Impressive deductions, correct as they are I wonder how you came to them?"

"Tim's a teenage CEO, it makes sense he'd try and follow in Bruce's footsteps, even if it isn't the healthiest thing to do." She finally manages to free her hands from the sheets and hugs Kaliki and Tikki closer to her, "And from what little I've been able to get from Damian he doesn't like talking about things he doesn't quite understand, which I guess extends to emotions brought up from nightmares."

The silence I'd expectant and she continues, "And when he was Robin in front of me he refused to release his katana, even when he didn't perceive me as a threat."

"If we are on the topic of identities, Miss Marinette, as I'm sure you're aware Master Bruce has informed me of yours." Tikki snuggled closer to her, a protective aura coming over her, "Am I correct in assuming you're the Ladybug and the guardian?"

She was taking a risk with her next question but you never got across a gap if you kept both feet on the ground, "You're one of Noroo's."

It wasn't a response nor was it a question. But they both knew the answers to their respective questions.

"Well, Miss Marinette, it has been a long time since I was one of Noroo's bugs, but from you I take it as a compliment to still be linked to my old friend."

... should she?

She should.

"You can open the door now..."

"Are you a hundred percent certain? You do not have to allow me to open the door just because I was once a holder."

"No...no it's fine. They don't turn up on camera and you're good, I can tell."

Alfred chuckled, "Again a compliment like that from a guardian is far more gracious than you seem to appreciate."

Even with her permission Alfred waited a few seconds to give her time to retract her permission before opening it. When he did, even then, the elderly man didn't enter the room. Instead he stood across the gall, back to the wall as he looked through the open doorway, seemingly giving her her own space even now.

"How could you tell? Bruce doesn't know about the Guardian."

"Noroo still lingers in my soul, I have always been capable of seeing the 'Champion' in people of you will, yours is unlike any I have seen in years. The only 'Champion' that I have seen similar to yours was the Guardian who gave me my miraculous."

"Was his name Fu?"

A contemplative look crossed the man's features, "Yes, I believe that was his name. Was he your mentor?"

She gave a shakey nod, and only then did she notice the other Kwamii had settled down, resting on the bed rather than in a hoard surrounding her. 

"Master Fu was..." She paused, "He was what he was. A mentor and a Guardian, he- he was forced to give me Guardianship early but I learnt what I could. I imagine when you knew him he was far more...sprightly."

"Wang Fu was indeed, sprightly if that is the word we're going for." The older man's eyes narrowed slightly, "From what I understand though, you are rather young. I do not mean to question your abilities but surely your order wouldn't place the heavy responsibility on a child?"

Unlike when others had reminded her of her state as a child she didn't feel indignant. She felt relieved, that someone had finally said what she was to cowardly to say.

"As far as Master Fu and I were concerned... I'm the last remaining member of the order."

"Well then, Miss Marinette, may I extend the aid of myself to you if you need it. As you may know I am well accustomed to helping youth through their troubling times, even if my knowledge of the miraculous is lacking I can assure you I will help."

... why was she crying again?

"Thank you." Why was she repeating herself?

"Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you so much."

-*-

Breakfast at the Wayne Manor was not as solemn as she'd feared it would be. Apparently when all the male siblings were around chaos would ensue.

"Drake I swear I'll drape your entrails atop of Wayne Tower if you do that one more time!"

"Really, demon spawn? You're going to do that if I do this?"

"Drake!"

Ducking her head Marinette focused on eating the food Alfred had prepared for them, despite her asking to help him she'd been denied again, and chose to ignore the mayhem happening just to her right.

The kind part of her said it was because she had no right to get involved in a sibling squabble, the logical part of her told her it gave her plausible deniability if Tim wound up dead later. No need to become accessory to murder and cause an international incident if I didn't involve Lila's demise.

Maybe she should get her murderous urges checked out. All that aggression centred towards one individual was not healthy, for either of them.

Leaning across the table from her, also pointedly refusing to look over in the direction of the possible murder, Grayson started to whisper shout to her over the death threats.

"They're not normally like this Marinette I swear-"

"Dont lie to her Dickie-bird. They're always like this Nettie, place your bets on who starts the violence this time. I estimate we've got two minutes before blows are exchanged." Jason discretely shoved a little black note book with Tim and Damian's names in a tally chart with wagers next to each of them, along with a name of who'd made the bet.

"She's a kid Jay-bird she can't gamble-"

"I'm looking at your name right now Grayson," the eldest son blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, "please don't be a hypocrite. Now, why have both if you chosen the choices you have?"

Jason went first, "The demon spawn has been wound up for days, today though he came down looking like Tim over there pissed in his coffee. He's out for blood today."

Followed by Grayson, "Tim's so sleep deprived I heard him say he was going to fight God as he left his room this morning, and I think right now Damian's the closest thing."

She weighed their points up, "Ten dollars Bruce walks in _before_ they fight, but Tim accidentally does something that causes Damian to exchange blows first."

The older boys sat there blinking at her for a few seconds. "Bringing the old man into it now?" Jason sounded almost proud, "Alright Nettie. Ten dollars from you on that. Now, Dickie-bird-"

"What are you two doing?"

Bruce's voice caused the two arguing boys to pause, however Tim's hand ended up hitting Damian's coffee mug, which promptly spilled the scalding hot drink all down the front of the younger boy.

There was a tense silence where Bruce tried to speak only to be shut down by the demonic shriek of war Damian gave out as he literally launched himself across the table at his older brother.

"THAT IS IT DRAKE!"

A punch was exchanged courtesy of Damian which Tim responded to by returning the punch with the words, "FUCKING TRY IT DEMON SPAWN!"

Bruce began shouting at the two to calm down, and actually tried to physically separate the two of them. She instead turned back to the two dumbstruck adults next to her.

Grayson was the first to speak, "How?"

"Damian had moved his mug closer to Tim's side of the table earlier in the argument to puss him off, with how Tim was waving his arms it was only a matter of time before he knocked it over." They nodded and the sound of war continued behind them, "Alfred said Bruce comes down at the same time every morning and well, check the time. Also it was logical to assume your father would try and stop the argument, I guessed that Damian would be the first to throw a punch though."

"Are you _sure_ Nettie that you didn't just bribe them to do that, because that's Batman level deductions." It was supposed to be a joke, but from Jason, who knew she knew, it felt a bit more like a real compliment.

Tapping her nose she grinned as she responded, "You can't hide anything from a mystic."


	26. Chapter 26

"A mystic? Is that what we're calling you now?"

A smirk curled on her lips as she nodded, "Yep. I do believe I won the bet though, dear brother of mine."

"I knew there was a reason why you put down such a low amounts you knew you'd get near triple in returns." Not so begrudgingly Jason handed over the fifteen dollars he'd put down for Damian starting to fight

With a curious look in his eyes Grayson handed his thirteen dollars over, and once she had all the money in front of her she split it equally and slid fourteen dollars over to Jason. At his questioning quirk of the eyebrows she explained, "You technically got the bet right. Damian threw the first punch."

Grayson let out a laugh then, and confused as to why he was laughing she biofeedback over to him, "You planned on sharing with Jay as soon as you knew he'd sided with Damian didn't you?"

The question was said with a light, joking, tone but it gave her pause regardless. She hadn't really thought about splitting the money anymore than she'd thought about not splitting it. If anything it was probably all the years or making bets with Nino and Kim where the money would end up split because it was always two to one in a bet that had caused her to sit it.

"I guess..." She trailed off, "When me and two of my friends make bets the winners always end up splitting the money so I guess I'm just used to it."

A hand cane up and ruffled her hair and after trying and failing to bat the hand away she gave up and stuck her tongue out at Jason. Her brother laughed at her before removing his hand.

"You're such a child." The words were spoken with a fake, over-exaggerated, exasperation that brought a smile to her lips. The smile dropped when the volume of Jason's voice dropped, "But speaking of friends, we're talking about last night."

Groaning quietly, she collapsed into the dining chair while the sound of the two other male Wayne siblings trying to rip each others throats put continued.

"I told you we'd be talking about it Nettie. It's clear what happened wasn't a one time thing, people can't just to or about each other the way she was talking about you."

A scared, exhausted, part of her wanted to be vindictive and say that people can't make two teenage girls piss themselves with fright because of a teenager's spat.

She resisted, knowing that it would only cause issues. Marinette didn't want to start an argument, especially not over this topic in particular.

"I know that." She lowers her volume as well, thankful that Jason was keeping this private, "But seeing as my own teacher wanted to abandon me after the Scarecrow attack there isn't much I can do about it."

The mention of Bustier caused Jason's jaw to clench and she kept her eyes trained on his face watching for any of the signs of the terrifying anger he'd exhibited the night before.

"There has to be _someone_ you can talk to Nettie." She watched her brother's face, watching very slight change that flickered across it as she remained silent. Eventually he continued when he found he was getting nowhere, "Have you even told your parents?"

"No..." She sunk deeper into the chair as Jason stared at her scandalized.

"Marinette!" Her full name makes her feel uncomfortable, which she supposes is the intent, and Kwamii how impossibly small she feels as the now silent dining room watch as Jason lectures her. "What the hell do you mean you haven't told your parents!? It has _far surpassed_ the point where your parents should of been told!"

"There isn't a point in them knowing." She raises her voice but she doesn't shout, it's too embarrassing as everyone else watches, "They can't do anything- why would they even care anyway!?"

"Because they love you Marinette- they're your parents for fuck sake."

_'Catherine and Willis were supposed to love us.'_

The words are **right** there on the tip of her tongue. She could say them, right now. Just... just utter them and let the chips fall where the would.

But she can't. Marinette can't say those words. Because Catherine loved Jason at the very least and Willis Todd never felt anything for another human being that wasn't him. It isn't fair to say.

How she wants to. How selfish she wants to be, to just say something that is unfair.

That would make her a bad person though, and its words she knew she'd instantly regret saying if they left her mouth. So, instead she looks away, body shaking with the anxiety this is causing.

' _Pathetic. Look at how pathetic you are. Getting anxious now, as if you have a right. It's your fault; you caused this. If only you'd been more compassionate, if only you'd **understood more! If only-**_ '

The voice in her head shuts off mid sentence, and she can't tell if the voice is closer to Butier's or Lila's vocal range.

Never for a damn day of her life has she cared for the parenting she missed from Catherine and Willis Todd, so why now of all times was it coming up?

"Marinette?"

She knows she's zoned out, probably missed another portion of the rant but she doesn't care, "Love doesn't go very far in Paris at the moment Jason."

The words are spat out, "My best friend was supposed to love me and she called me a _slut_ last night so why should I hold my breath? The headmaster willingly ignores as our class tears itself apart- The damn cause of it is a pathological liar who has all the signs of a psychopath so tell me!"

At some point Jason had stood from his seat, and now she did the same. All embarrassment from earlier was gone. Now? Now she was a raging inferno.

"How the fuck am I supposed to turn to anyone for help when the cause can lie her way out of anything!? You're right Jason- they love me- but how long till that changes huh? How long till they, like my damn class, think I'm fucking scum!?"

It was too much again, and she was pathetic and she was-

She was... She was being hugged. Someone - Jason from the cooing- was hugging her. Why? Why was he- why would he-

"This is why you tell someone Nettie." She didn't immediately understand until he whispered to her that she needed to breath, "You keep everything pent up like this and you'll hurt yourself and others."

"You'd know all about that wouldn't you." Her words were still venom and she hated it.

"Yeah, Nettie. I'd know all about that."

-*-

After being calmed down she and Jason had been ushered to Bruce's private office for a _chat_.

(It turned out it was a good thing the Wayne family had breakfast as stupid o'clock in the morning they were talking for two hours.)

In said chat Bruce made her explain what Lila had done to her and her friends, in an overview otherwise they'd of likely not left for the entire day, who she'd targeted and why and lastly he'd made her explain why she hadn't told her parents.

She'd assumed the end of the argument at the table would of informed him of that, but no. He wanted the details, wanted to know about the fact she'd grown ever more paranoid of telling them, more and more terrified that if they _did_ find out they'd turn on her- that when they found out they would believe Lila's lies over her.

Because why would they believe Marinette? Marinette hid things from them, Ladybug things of course, and she'd been being more of a hindrance lately with not being able to help out in the bakery as much because if everything piling up. Marinette was nothing more than a lead weight.

And Lila? Well, that was the 'beauty' of Lila wasn't it? She could be whatever **you** _wanted_ **her** to be.

Not so much a snake in the grass but a parasite changing its hosts cognition to best preserve its living conditions.

Lila drained and she drained and Marinette hadn't realised how drained she'd been until she broke down crying again in Bruce's office.

Hatred courses through her as she cried, because it was stupid. How could she be allowing herself to cry this much? If this kept up she'd slip in Paris and the next time she was akumatised she wouldn't be able to hold Hawkmoth off.

But after the two excruciating hours in the office a compromise was met. Marinette still wanted to be with her friends, but one of the brothers would be accompanying her.

This, Bruce had said with the kind of authoritative tone she'd been getting from Tom if she was misbehaving since she'd started getting into fights at age seven, was both for his piece of mind regarding her emotional wellbeing but also so that he could start filing reports against the two aggressors.

" _With the state of Paris currently, I'd like to think the emotional manipulation and blatant harassment they're committing would be taken seriously. I hate to say it, but hopefully the money to my name will nudge the force in the direction of action."_

As she stood with Grayson to her left and Damian to her right in front of Wayne Enterprise HQ's front desk waiting for her class the words Bruce had said ran through her head once again.

Damian would be spending the day shadowing Bruce and Tim - despite lacking an interest in the business itself it was a way to be close by if he was needed (and she suspected an excuse for Father and son to spend time together)- while Dick was using his day off to give them their tour of Wayne Enterprise's main HQ.

She'd felt horrible that the man was giving up his day off from being a police officer to deal with her class. The eldest Wayne sibling had merely smiled a truly award winning smile and assured her he'd dealt with the worst of the worst that there was in tour personnel so her class would be a breeze.

Marinette had wished him well on that front, which had caused the twenty eight year old to look panicked as he realised that this class was going to be the type of class you saw on cringey 'what the fuck why would you do that' class from Hell youtube videos.

"Inform me when they arrive which ones of your class you would like me to cull Marinette, and rest assured by the end of the day they will be gone." Damian's ominous words should of scared her, at the least they should of set off a few alarm bells.

They didn't. What concerned her though, was his lack of a blade. Which, in her experience with improvised weaponry meant the injuries and (in this case) subsequent death would be grim and as painful as possible.

"You won't need me to point them out." She sighed, "But no culling. International incidents aren't my thing and if anyone is killing Lila it's me."

"The more I hear of your awake personality, rather than the tired meme Lord from last night, the more Jason I see in you."

Grayson's words were surely meant to be inspirational, maybe even a tad comforting. Alas, she was anxious, tired and would rather be in a ditch than near Lila and was only here to be near her friends so only had one sentence to say in response, "Kind hard _Dick,_ I'm half Asian and Jason isn't."

The man stared at her, mouth hanging open for a few seconds before Damian snickered and Grayson finally broke down in laughter. "Oh my god- the resemblance was uncanny!"

It was hard to stop the little smile that fought its way to her face then.

"You haven't called me anything but Grayson since I told you my name and the first time you call me by my first name it's like that!"

"Jason said it was the only appropriate way to start calling you by your last name."

Grayson shuck his head with a smile on his face, and unlike her own it was award winning once again, "Damn Jay-Bird, can't help corrupting the younglings of the family."

Simultaneously the blood rushed to her face and froze. One, that comment insinuated Grayson though she was part of the family and two, they were in a very public building.

It would of been hard, but she could of managed to play off that she had no idea who the Wayne's were, or that she was an MDCT rep and was getting to know the two for help with a commission for them - plausible things, easily swept under the covers.

But something like indirectly saying 'you're my new sibling' was not something that would go ignored.

She'd be fucked for the rest of the trip now, from the way she noticed some workers look over (the Wayne boys were a common sight but a new Wayne? That drew eyes) at them she knew the 'news' would of spread around the building by the time she was leaving.

Loud French squawking alerted them that her class had arrived.

"I will be taking my leave now."

"Have a good day Little D, see you at lunch?"

"I suppose."

"Bye." She nodded at the younger teen and he nodded back, making a quick escape to the elevator as her class stormed the door.

Grayson leant his head closer to her as he whispered, "Any last minute warnings?"

"Try not to attack them when they mention you or Damian." Grayson's face scrunched up, "Lila has a story concocted about the two of you and her- I'd get Bruce on it asap before a tabloid catches wind."


	27. Chapter 27

"She what?"

Keeping her eyes forward Marinette made sure her voice was low, "Maybe she won't say anything, maybe she will but Bruce should probably start building a law suit."

"No Marinette, I heard what you said, "Grayson turned towards her and she realised he was blocking their conversation from her classmates view, "I'm asking what she's saying exactly."

A quick glance around showed too many watching eyes, "You don't want me to say it Grayson."

Grayson seemed to catch the hint and looked around catching the eyes on them as well, "Tourist gossip won't be taken seriously, someone saying it who's hanging around Damian and I would make it seem more believable..."

"Exactly."

"Okay." Grayson sighed, putting on a fake smile that made her feel like cringing from how false it was after seeing his real smile, "Lets get this show on the road."

With that the man turned towards her class and teacher who were stood watching them expectantly and with a morbid type of curiosity.

She felt herself growing self-conscious as she spotted eyes grabbing onto the exposed bandages on her arms and the bruises she'd haphazardly covered up on her face. Jason had laughed as he'd told her that Scarecrow had tried to slug her across the face, but rather than deter her it had apparently spurred her on.

It was only slightly concerning she didn't remember taking a hit.

"Good morning everyone! Mme. Bustier I presume?"

The false enlivened her skin crawl again because it was _so obviously false_ but Bustier didn't seem to notice. If anything she seemed to eat it up, as she took the hand Grayson had extended in greeting and shuck it with a smile on her face.

"Yes, that's me. Thank you for doing the tour today Mr...?"

( _Marinette distantly wondered where this fluent English was coming from, where it had been a few days ago at the hotel._ )

It angered her so much how _kind_ and _lovely_ Bustier could act even though the day before she'd been so ready to, and had, abandoned her.

"Grayson," then he turned to dress the rest of the class, "My name is Richard Grayson, and I'm going to be your tour guide for today."

Once Grayson's eyes were diverted from her Bustier's face changed in an instant. Gone was the kind and caring teacher, now it was Bustier again. If they weren't in public her teacher would have snarled, she could just tell.

Bustier slipped into French as she began scolding her.

"What the hell were you thinking Marinette? You didn't come back to the hotel after getting checked out at the hospital and then I find out from Lila and Alya you're _sleeping_ with some American man you've just met? And that you're staying with him for the rest of the trip!?"

The words were hissed, and while Lila wasn't a snake in the grass Bustier most certainly was.

"I'm not _sleeping_ with anyone. And the reason I didn't come back to the hotel is because I was at the police station. Because _you_ didn't bother to check where the hell I was supposed to be."

How long had she wanted to have this level of venom in her voice when she spoke to Bustier?

"And the person I'm staying with? Is my _**big brother**_ \- who the city of Gotham has decided is more capable of being my guardian on this trip than the school."

Like with all things with Bustier when she tried to prove she wasn't the cause, it all went in one ear and out the other. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng you _will not_ use chaperone of voice with me or-"

Marinette knew she was probably about to over step but maybe it was time for that. Maybe it was time she gave up the pretence of the shallow politeness she forced herself to give Bustier.

"Or what? My parents know what happened yesterday," Bustier's face dropped, "and you've abandoned me once already in Crime Capital Mme. Bustier, so please. Please tell me what you will do to me if I don't stop my tone of voice."

Adrenaline was coursing through her veins alongside euphoria. Damn all consequences. Damn everything but the words she'd just spoken.

Bustier's teeth ground together as her teacher tried not to blow up anymore than she already had.

"When we return to France, Mr Damocles and I will be having a serious discussion on _you_ and _your behaviour._ "

Oh no, how scared she was. How mortified. It was impossible to keep the amusement out of her voice, "Okay."

Smiling with the same fake smile Grayson had she stepped back, finding her hands clenched into tight balls that were shaking at her sides. The fact she'd subconsciously wanted to harm her teacher didn't surprise her, didn't scare her, didn't disgust her.

It allowed a calm to wash over her, an acceptance of some sort.

She knew where she stood now. Everything was clearer, less painful and sharp. Some of the anxiety she'd felt building up dissipated.

"What did I just say young lady?"

Clearly Bustier was referring to her attitude.

"I heard you loud and clear Mme. Bustier, let's just start the day again? We wouldn't want to start an incident after Mr. Wayne has been so kind as to let us have a tour out of season."

She played up the innocent act by raising her hands in a surrendering position and barley shifted her head in the direction of the lobby full of workers who were doing their best to not let on how they were listening in.

"Mme. Bustier? Are you ready to start the tour now? We're on a schedule unfortunately." Grayson intervened at just the right time because she could see Bustier's once docile temper about to flare. "Marinette how about you go stand with your friends? You might need them to help guide you when you've got your head stuck in your sketchbook. Wayne Enterprise HQ's architecture is truly inspiring."

Nodding at the cue to get the hell out of dodge she slipped around the back of the twenty eight year old, only feeling slightly guilty for using him as a human shield.

It was aggravating to feel ashamed as she ducked her head and hurried to her friends. The looks from her classmates were infuriating, as if she truly wasn't the girl they'd known.

She could genuinely see a few of them were thinking she might of slept with someone. 

( _A morbid part of her brain made a tally mark on the side of 'Lila is a metahuman' on the mental scoreboard of Metahuman VS Psychopath, because it was an unnatural kind of turn around for someone like Rose, who was under Lila's thumb through blackmail.)_

-*-

 _**@W.E._RumourMill** _ _New Wayne confirmed! Sighted with two of the brothers at the HQ!! She's so cute!!_

_#SunshineGirl #NewWayne #VisualConfirmationThatItWasNotAPrank_

**_@PastaCat_ ** _@W.E._RumourMill has missed out the fact she's with her class on an out of season tour!! Has anyone heard of letting your kids get away with stuff on a level higher than this that's below murder and crime??_

_#SunshineGirl #DamianSoundedLikeAProtectiveLittleBro #Cute #SiblingBonds_

_**@BreakRoomGal** _ _The Newest Wayne? Yeah, I saw her. Saw her and her bitch of a teacher! Who gets on a kid for not FINDING THEIR OWN WAY BACK FROM THE HOSPITAL WHEN YOU HAVEN'T CONTACTED THE HOSPITAL??? LIKE DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF??_

_#WhatIsWrongWithTheTeacher #SheDidn'tThinkAnyoneCouldSpeakFrenchButSheWasWrongAndBoiDoIHaveThingsToSayAboutHer #YouAbandonedAChildInGothamWhyTheFuckWouldTheyRiskGettingAroundOnTheirOwn #AccusingHerOfBullshitAndThenGettingShockedWhenTheKidCallsHerOut #YouGoNewWayne #IWouldProtectThisGirlIfTheNeedArose #SunshineGirl_

_-*-_

Grayson's joke about needing her friends to keep her from wandering off turned out to be more than a joke as during the first ten minutes of the tour after she'd pulled out her sketchbook Alix and Max had both had to stop her from running into a pillar.

The architecture was no joke though, every detail down to the miniature gargoyles atop the pillars 'holding' up the ceiling were testament to some aspect of Gotham.

Gargoyles, granite and brick, iron and the twisting gothic art nouveaux carved decoration of ivy and half blooming nameless flowers that adorned many of the old buildings in the city. It made her heart sore just seeing Gotham encapsulated in an art form.

She spotted the Batman tag stickers on a few out of the way spots in the building by accident, and was surprised that it was still a thing.

When she'd been younger she remembered seeing the tag in random places. On street corners in crime alley, on the bottom of fancy street signs on buildings and sometimes on the stands the gargoyles she'd count.

Apparently they represented areas the Bat had been, or at the least spotted. It was a way she supposed for people to know where they were more or less likely to get mugged.

Jason had always turned it into a game to keep her entertained. And now that she really thought about it, he'd had her make sure there were none in the areas where they'd sometimes have to shoplift or where they'd usually hit marks for pickpocketing.

It brought a smile to her lips. 

During a desolate time like that in their lives Jason had found a way to make it a game, a way to keep her distracted... thinking on distractions she focused back to this morning and realised that Jason hadn't touched his breakfast until after she'd finished hers, but that wasn't right. No, he'd waited till everyone else had finished eating.

Damn it... even after all this time? Even after years of luxury he wouldn't touch his food until he made sure everyone else had had their fill and wouldn't go hungry.

She didn't know what to do about that, but she knew at the least it was something she hoped he'd one day grow out of. It wasn't healthy...

Her sketchbook went skidding across the floor as something harshly knocked into her shoulder. Looking towards it, seeing a few of the pages scattered across the floor she didn't even bother to look to who had knocked into her and instead scurried forward, picking up the pages and the book.

Thinking she'd gotten everything she went to stand up but a hand on her shoulder forced her to stay on her knees. More than slightly freaked out she twisted her head quickly to see who the hell thought they were being clever only to see Lila.

"You must be used to being on your knees huh Marinette?" All she could do was gawk and in milliseconds regaining her senses she pushed Lila's hand off of her, thinking she was being clever the witch raised her voice, "Marinette why would you say that!? All I asked was if you were okay!"

Ignoring the girl who was squealing a bunch of lies like a pig she ducked her head and moved to her friends again who were already a few steps behind Lila.

Turned out pigs were fast on two trotter's as well.

"Nettie what did she say to you I swear to God I'll- I'll-" Alix was clearly worked up and Marinette couldn't deal with another argument, not after having to calm Jason down last night.

"Leave it Alix." The pink haired girl's eyes widened in shock and her mouth twisted into a scowl but she carried on, "Leave. It. Nothing will come of you calling her out- she'll just target you more than usual."

"Hey, Marinette are you alright?" tiredly turning her head to see Grayson coming over to check on her she tried to fake the energy she'd had two hours prior.

She couldn't however, the two harpeis having drained it within literal seconds, "A bit pissed off but nothing else."

Grayson nodded, angling his head in the direction of Lila, "Is that the one you were telling Jay about?" She nodded, "Alright. Now that I know who I'm looking out for my job is a hundred times easier."

"Your job?"

The Grayson award smile was shot at her, she thought of pretending to hiss and act like a vampire from how bright it was, "Making sure you aren't targeted; like B said, he's gonna help and that starts with me stopping stuff like this at the most basic of levels."

Deciding B was the ' in the know' way to refer to Bruce she used it as she responded, "I'm not gonna be able to thank B enough."

Another smile and Grayson was shaking his head humorously, "You're not supposed to thank B, that's the point."

With that the man was turning and walking over to Lila who'd started the waterworks and had Bustier and Alya at her side while the rest of the class clung to the walls; seemingly embarrassed to having been caught up in this incident.

"B? Jay? What is going on Nettie!?" Alix once again started and this time the concern was more palpable in her tone.

"Jay, as in Jason, Alix." Understanding crossed hers and Max's faces, "And B is the nickname Grayson uses for his father. He's adopted, as is Jason so most of the time they call their father by his first name."

"And this...B, he's really gonna help with Lila?" Nino's cautious tone made her feel slightly better.

Her friends were still looking out for her at the least.

"Yeah. I trust that he's telling the truth, and seeing as I had to stop Jason from murdering Lila and Alya last night I think I have a pretty solid plan 2."

"You mean plan B, Nettie bug, English is your first language you should know that phrase."

"Ah, my dearest Chloe that is where you are wrong." She smiled, "That would insinuate I only have twenty six plans, I can assure you I have much more."


	28. Chapter 28

"Really Nettie-Bug? Keep that up and I'll sworn with your devilish charms." 

Winking at Chloe Marinette found herself laughing as the rest of their friends rolled their eyes. By now they were used to her antics, and everyone at some point either got winked at or received finger guns. Everyone knew it was in good fun; well everyone but her tormentors.

"So, do we know why Mr. Grayson is going over to Lila?"

"Plan three more than likely. I may have set it in motion before you all arrived."

Kim shot her a wide grin as he slung his arm around her shoulder, "You never cease to amaze me with you conniving behaviour Nettie." They began to walk after Grayson, as he returned to the front of the group leaving behind a furious Lila and Alya.

Bustier shot her group a look and she flashed a smile at the teacher in retaliation. Like a child Bustier stormed to the front to stand next to Grayson soon after.

"So, Talk us through this plan of yours." Kim kept his voice low.

As they walked Adrien and Chloe slid up to her right while Nino, Alix and Max took the front guard. The others 'weren't' listening in as she began explaining the plan.

If they'd done anything less they wouldn't of been her friends.

After that the rest of the morning portion of the tour went well, she wasn't knocked over again and in the end she managed to fill three spreads in her sketchbook (with only the occasional question from Kim and obstruction due to his arm) with designs - and in fact most of them were ones she could see becoming serious designs.

Throughout the tour they were told random facts about Wayne Enterprise expansion, about the internships they offered and a variety of other things Marinette suspected Grayson got played extra to tell them.

Did Grayson get paid for doing these tours or were they classed as chores? If so did the Jason have to do them as well? Did the Wayne sisters do the tours as well?

So many questions, so few reputable sources to ask.

The tour took up to lunch time, though they weren't particularly hungry still getting accustomed to the new time zone, and surprisingly rumours and lies hadn't been flying around like usual.

Marinette suspected Grayson's apparent disregard for Lila's lies had stemmed the problem for today.

She was grateful, because as soon as they were let loose in the canteen at the lunch break she was ready to just sit and stop existing for a few minutes. 

Human interaction was a no-go. For some reason she suddenly felt off, like something was going to happen and it made her feel drained. This feeling came and went in Paris, sometimes it was nothing and sometimes it was very much something.

The 'something' turned out to be a pissed off looking Damian stalking his way through the canteen like a particularly hungry Bengal tiger. The thirteen year olds eyes were sharp, scowl hard set into his features and surrounded by an aura that wasn't so much superiority but rather stoic resolve to slap the next person who invaded his personal space.

All she could think of was 'Same'.

"Who's the ice Prince? Kagami get a little brother and not tell us?"

Hearing the nickname for the teen she found herself snickering. Deciding to not get involved in the conversation just yet she let her friends throw about theories for who the 'ice prince' could possibly be.

They just missed the mark, "Maybe some higher ups kid? If the Wayne kids roam I assume Mr.Wayne would let others kids roam."

"Yeah it would make sense I guess."

She was concerned why the younger was in such a foul mood, but put it down to him really not enjoying shadowing his father all day. She figured Bruce must not have many interesting things to do in his office, even if he was the CEO.

That position came with a high degree of responsibility.

Marinette hadn't intended on getting involved with it though, the younger would probably find it beneficial to stew on it for a few hours before she or Grayson attempted to pry the reason out of him.

Or at least, that was how she herself liked to resolve issues like that. Perhaps it wasn't the most efficient way, but she found stewing over something resulted in one of two things:

1) A list of reasons why she was justified in being pissed off

Or

2) A list of reasons why she was being petty and needed to start being more mature about an issue.

Option two was pretty damn rare, but it happened occasionally.

"Dupain-Cheng." Looking up from her sketchbook, noticing the sudden silence in the room she spotted Damian holding a tray looking ready to punch a hole through the table.

"Damian."

Shifting her chair silently closer to Adrien's she watched the boy as he gently sat his tray down and just as gently asked and removed a chair from another table. The only sign of his aggressive aura was the way he slammed himself into the chair.

For all his poise he was still a bratty thirteen year old boy.

It was really funny to be honest.

"Father's co-workers are even more infuriating than Drake and Todd together." The words were spat out before he began to shove his face with food, still somehow keeping his grace.

A moody teenager with poise yes, and it appeared Damian would rather die than drop the pretence.

"They're all a bunch of rich pricks who have sticks so far up their backsides it's difficult to make sense of what they're saying, I don't know what you were expecting." She was shot a glance that told her that her comment was somewhat appreciated.

"What?"

Turning to her friends she saw them awkwardly trying not to stare, "Is there something on my face?"

"No...just didn't expect you to be making such quick friends... was everyone at the police station or something yesterday Nettie?" With a quick giggle she brushed off the question, catching Adrien's gaze and nodding.

He knew this was Robin then, she just had to make sure she didn't say his name. She didn't think the Bat would appreciate being found out that easy.

Maybe he would? Maybe it would encourage him to find a way to combat a mystic's natural bullshit ways of finding shit out. She wished she understood half of what she could do or why but alas she was as in the dark as most people were.

"Damian is one of Jason's younger brothers, I ended up meeting him last night." Not a complete lie, she met Damian Wayne last night, but she'd met Robin two nights ago.

That should ward off Chloe's bullshit detector for now.

"So...Damian," Chloe was the only one 'brave' enough to breach the icy gap of conversation, "Do you like sword fighting?"

The question caught everyone off guard and looking to her blonde friend Marinette couldn't help but raise a brow, where was Chloe going with this?

"I do...?"

"Chloe. And have you heard of a fenced name Kagami Tsuguri?"

Oh... clever. Asking about sword fighting when he felt the posture of a fencer. She'd taken note of the way Damian had held himself but it had never clicked, after all she knew he wielded a katana.

That was one of the things she loved about Chloe, the blonde could figure out so many things about a person from a few seconds of watching you.

"I have, she's an extremely talented fencer - a rising star of her generation. Why do you ask?"

Despite Damian's bland tone there was an underlying feeling of true awe.

"Well, none of these morons were going to attempt conversation," ouch, even after coming so far some of Chloe's old habits of biting words slipped through, "I decided to see if my assumption you were a fencer was correct. Also, because I'm about to put Kagami on video call and wanted to know of you'd have a clue what was going on."

"You're doing what-"

"Marinette-hime, it seems we have a lot to talk about."

She glared at Chloe over the phone, and was met with a smirk. Little rat had sold her out.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Bronywn for letting me use a comment of there's in the fic! The first tweet in this chapter is what they commented.

Marinette forced a smile on her lips, taking the phone from Chloe's hands and leaning back in the chair she was sat in. There was no point dragging this out.

Kagami would slay her regardless of whether she answered now or later. She'd rather get her public execution down on her terms thank you very much. With her fake smile equipped she tried to not show how tense she was.

"Hey Kagami." It wasn't that Marinette didn't want to talk to her friend, it was that she knew she was about to get a lecture and with how she felt now that was the last thing she wanted or needed, "How are things with you and Luka in our glorious city?"

The switch to French was automatic, but she quickly went back to English as Kagami responded in that, "Everything is going perfectly well, the two of us can handle ourselves thank you. Juleka can rest at ease that her brother has yet to fall off the boat this week."

Her smile turned that little bit more genuine, "That's good. And your latest tournament?"

Maybe if she got Kagami talking she'd forget about why she called, and then if she managed to drag it out long enough she could get away with cutting the call.

The public execution would be on her terms, and Marinette was not ready to die via Kagami just yet. Traffic yes, a carefully aimed bullet from a sniper Lila had hired yes. Kagami, no. The Japanese girl was one of her closest friends and she would not be slaughtered via a video call across the kwamii forsaken Atlantic ocean.

That was not how things were going to go!

"You're deflecting," Damian muttered next to her, trying and failing to not stare at the girl on the phone screen in awe, "and you're not very good at it."

Kagami appraised Damian through the screen for a few seconds, "Your new companion is right Marinette-hime, you're awful at deflecting so why don't we get to the heart of the issue?"

Gulping she averted her eyes.

"Which is?"

"The fact you were attacked and didn't allow us to make some form of contact to allow you to not feel alone with your trauma."

It was obvious now that Kagami was pissed that she hadn't gone as far as using the Ladybug yoyo to let them know she was safe. A tired, scared, part of her bared its teeth, saying that she didn't owe the girl or Luka anything.

The more rational part said that Kagami knew that, but as friends and teammates it was an expected thing - to inform the others when you were suffering.

Marinette hated to admit that she and Adrien were still struggling with relying on the other miraculous in battle and outside of it.

Due to betrayal from previous potential teammates or just the ingrained message that they shouldn't trust anyone not even each other with their secrets coming into play she wasn't sure.

Perhaps a mixture of both.

"I was a bit busy last night Kagami, didn't have time." The older girl narrowed her eyes at her, "Spent most of the evening reconnecting with my brother and then spent the rest sleeping. I thought sleep would be the best healer at that time."

It was obvious the Kagami didn't agree with her.

"At the time?"

Ah, there was that sharp analysis, the same sharp dissection that made Chloe, Luka and Adrien dangerous. Marinette would marvel at how she'd managed to surround herself with specific type of teammates later; but for now she just revealed in the fact that all her friends were badasses.

-*-

_**@W.E._Runormill** can we just talk about how the #NewestWayne was able to (slightly) calm the storm that is Gotham’s youngest prince, AND knows Kagami Tsuguri a renowned fencer. Like she could stab you and you would thank her?_

_#newestwayne #babywaynewhisperer #kagamitsuguri #onlyingotham #ithinkimdrooling_

_**@AskingTheBigQuestions** _ _Are all the Wayne's super connected after coming out of the womb or does it happen by chance?? Is there like friendship-connection play dates after Bruce adopts or introduces each kid to the world??_

_#SlightlyJealous #Newest Wayne_

-*-

After finishing the call with Kagami, but not before derailing the topic and introducing Damian properly to the fencer (Damian's face had lit up like it was his birthday) and letting the two get acquainted, the mood at the table settled.

(Marinette could safely situate herself as the cool older sister in hers and Damian's dynamic which was something she was incredibly proud of.)

But it hadn't lasted for long, with Lila finally finding her voice again, "Oh I've already seen all this before, honestly that Grayson man has no idea about half of what he's going on about."

Sensing the dangerous shift next to her in the vice around Damian's chakra she deduced a theory that the vice grew in power when it's unfortunate holder experiences anger.

Due to the shift she moved discreetly closer to Damian, putting herself between him and the table with Lila on it. There was a table of innocent W.E. workers between the two tables, and they didn't need a rampaging Damian obliterating them as collateral.

"Who is that?" Damian's words were filled with a potent venom as he hissed.

"When _my_ Dami-boo took me around personally he told me all the _real_ facts, not just the ones they tell tourists."

And there was the major elephant in the room she'd alluded to, but hadn't herself truly addressed since stepping foot in Gotham.

Lila was claiming to date Damian.

"Oh he was so dreamy, unfortunately he's away overseas at the moment so there's no chance that I'll get to run into him." Someone hadn't done her research, but then again Lila rarely did.

"Marinette," her first name from Damian surprised her, "Who is that har-girl?"

She wondered what he was going to call Lila but didn't get a chance to think or answer when Lila's loud French overshadowed them again, "And Mr.Wayne was so kind and understanding about the relationship as well, especially after everything that happened with Richard-"

Whatever she'd been going to say was cut off by the sound of a chair loudly hitting the floor. Marinette jumped to her feet seconds after Damian, seeing the boy visibly shaking - her concern flared as the vice nearly took over the entire chakra. Damian was on the brink of losing himself to his anger and she knew if he let go something very, very dangerous would happen.

"Marinette I will ask once more, her name?"

"Lila."

The words were mere whispers and the two of them spoke so lowly Marinette barley registered that they'd been spoken.

At the name Damian seemed to stand taller, not puffing his chest out because this ball of rage didn't need to pretend to be intimidating. Ice Prince had been an apt name for the youngest Wayne heir - but now he was melting and the beast that had been restrained within was not happy to be awakened from its slumber.

The boy stalked, not metaphorically though the young boy literally stalked like a hunter, towards Lila'a table and it was as she quickly speed walked to keep up with the thirteen year old that she realised Kim had also risen from the table.

It seemed she was not the only one worried that someone would be in need of restraining.

Once getting to the table, the room still deathly silent, Damian sounded even more like a predator cornering its prey as he spoke to Lila, "You're Lila correct?"

The girl silently nodded, "I do not know you, _Lila_ , and clearly you do not know me." Another nod and Marinette could feel that feeling of 'something' again buzzing in the back of her mind as she stepped next to the boy.

Damian flashed a toothy grin, one filled with fangs and blood from the throats of his enemies that he'd ripped out with little hesitation, "Seeing as that's the case, I expect you to stop slandering myself and my eldest brother."

"After all, my father can not approve of a relationship between us if neither of us have ever met before."


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to @Brownywn for tue amazing tweets, they've been a great inspiration. But also thanks to @FikaTimeBlitz and @MewWitch for the tweets as well, again a big inspiration and they're funny so I feel like its a crime to leave them solely in the comments.

**_@LifeIsATrashyReality_ ** _Dude, I'm just sitting here eating my lunch trying to mind my own business when this sausage haired girl starts trashing Richard Grayson_

_#likehowcouldyouhateonaguywithanasslikethat #filthylies #burnthewitch #howdumbcanyoube #cantihaveonenormallunchbreak_

**_@WorldBurn_ ** _Oh my God, tell me about it. I just want to eat my crappy sandwich in peace but sausage hair is complaining about the CEO’s eldest, without realizing he’s the eldest._

_#reallyinfrontofmysalad #onmylunchbreak #whatatool #filthylies #suethesausage #twohoursofsleepandsoxcoffeesmeansimnotequipedtodealwiththisnoise_

**_@LifeIsATrashyReality_ ** _Did she just insinuate she’s dating the Ice Prince of Gotham?! Like how stupid can she be, kid’s like younger than her and way smarter than to date someone who dresses like that._

_#whyaretheotherkidsbelievingthis #issheameta #oraretheyjuststupid #hahaprisgoingtohaveanightmare #onlyingotham #isthatsunshinegirlnewestwaynethough #filthylies #whenyouworkatwelifeisatrashyrealtyshow_

**_@WorldBurn_ **   
_Sweet Jesus (even though I’m Jewish and don’t believe in Jesus) girl is going on about how she has some turbulent relationship with ‘Richard’. Like how, weren’t you just insulting him? Looks like the youngest Wayne is about to square up though._

_#infrontofmysalad #onmylunchbreak #whoisthesunshinegirlinthecorner #isthatthenewestwayne #newestwaynelookslikeshesabouttohaveapanicattack #burnthewitch_

_-*-_

_**@W.E_Rumormill** Hello 911? Just witnessed youngest Wayne murder a french liar_

_#He went straight for the kill! #No hesitation #seriously though what is wrong with this girl #she claimed not only be dating a literal child #but also his adult brother?!  
#WHILE IN THE SAME FREAKING ROOM AS BOTH OF THEM?!?!_

-*-

Should she cry? Was it appropriate to cry?

Damian had just outed Lila to an entire room, and while not very loudly it seemed W.E. employees had enough self preservation to not get in their ice prince's way and were silently watching on as Lila got ripped to shreds.

Marinette felt like she could cry tears of actual fucking joy.

There was no way on earth that Lila could get out of this one, no way that this could turn in her favour. She'd escaped a situation like this before, but there wouldn't be a rouge coming to save her this time.

A room full of people knew Lila was a liar. _A ROOM FULL OF PEOPLE KNEW._ For so, so long she'd wanted _somebody_ who could do something to know, and now an entire room knew. And from the way Damian's vice was still strangling and hissing and dare she say it, _giggling_ in anticipation for a fight it was becoming more and more apparent that something would be done.

Grayson, who was storming over with an equally threatening aura, would definitely make sure something was done.

She could already tell the eldest Wayne child did not take grievances against his family highly- when she'd mentioned the rumour to him earlier he had seemed livid, but now that he had heard it; she knew what he looked like when he was angry.

And Marinette did not feel ashamed to say she was scared of what Grayson could do or say when he looked like that, when his Charka swelled and curled the way it was doing.

Damian and Jason had a vice, that was part of what made their anger terrifying, because it was an unnatural anger, their own rage being amplified and twisted beyond what it originally would of been. Grayson's anger was all him - nothing manipulating it to be worse that it should be.

To put it lightly Grayson looked ready to go to war.

"I- I don't know what you're going on about!"

Even in a situation where she couldn't possibly win, Lila still turned on the water works. Fat fake tears streamed down her face, accompanied by a trembling lip that caused anyone that was fool enough to coo and attempt to placate the girl.

No one was fool enough this time bar her circle.

But even then, even with the circle (who in recent weeks had slowly but surely been depleted and transferring itself over to her side in this three year long siege) of Meylene, Rose and Alya there was hesitation.

Rose knew, knew full heartedly that Lila was a liar, and she was doing her damndest to keep up pretence to not allow Alya to blackmail her and ruthlessly slander and destroy the reputations of innocent people.

Now though, even Rose was reluctant to help the girl. If anything rage seemed to build itself up within her. And that was when Marinette remembered. If there was one thing Rose treasured, one thing she held above all else, it was love.

And in lying about a relationship, with a kid (and Damian may be thirteen but he looked younger _so so much younger_ ) no less she had crossed the threshold to which you could not come back on with Rose.

The insinuation she'd lied about a previous relationship as well seemed to only spur the small punk rockers anger.

A thought, tiny and almost missed thought, entered her mind.

Everyone's rage was unnaturally spiking- which could be attributed to Gotham's miasma, but Meylene who didn't have any outstanding reason to believe Lila was lying (and despite the bittersweet scene on the stairs apparently the girl's relationship was still rocky with Ivan) was still sticking to her guns.

While Rose, as previously mentioned, knew Lila was lying.

So if Marinette was to say rising tensions were attributed to the miasma she'd have to say, without evidence as to why, that the miasma was ignoring Meylene.

But that was stupid, which lead her yet again to two ideas.

One, Lila was a metahuman with a weak-midrange mental suggestion ability that became less effective the more the victim knew she was lying. Which would explain how Marinette had known immediately she was lying, whereas Adrien (who at the time hadn't known her identity) had been hazed for awhile before she'd outed Lila in front of him.

Or two, Lila was just naturally a master manipulator and/or psychopath.

A third option presented itself and made her sick to her stomach all over again, what if the first two weren't mutually exclusive?

"Then we understand each other don't we _Lila_? I have no idea about the slander you are spewing and you do not understand that I'm calling you out."

The way Damian said Lila's name made it sound more like ' _Lie_ -la'.

She risked putting a hand on Damian's shoulder and when he snapped his head towards her ( _the promise to run her through with the nearest blade, who did she think she was to touch him? He was the Prince of Gotham who dared to stop him-_ screaming in his eyes) she didn't allow any hint of hesitation to enter her face, "Damian, Grayson has security with him, think carefully about your next few words."

It was an indirect warning to hurry up and a gentle remainder to be careful do what he said in public; there was only so much the Gotham media would keep a lid on.

An insult of any serious calibre would have Damian being dragged through the tabloids for months and with the current rumour as the predicament the sharks would eat it up, running the lie just to gain more traction for the original slating story.

Marinette knew that's what the tabloids would do, after all its the method Alya followed and no one had yet gotten the courage up to challenge the lies and slander she spewed on the Ladyblog - or Lila's holy online sanctuary as Max had once offhandedly called it.

"Of course." Damian stared her in the eye as he said it, and somehow she knew he was asking for her to stand down and let him do what he deemed necessary. Without making any other acknowledgements she nodded and stepped back.

The thirteen year old turned his head back to Lila and Grayson and the two security guards flanking him were almost here, "I'll say this only once more Lila, my father can not approve of a relationship between us if neither of us have ever met before."

The vice hissed and Marinette felt her hands twitch at her sides before catching Kim's gaze on them as well. Was it obvious she was a ticking time bomb right now?

Probably...

"So stop lying about myself and my brother. And for your information Grayson?" Lisa's eyes widened at the mention of their tour guide who was right behind her now, "Hates to be called Richard."

"Thanks for keeping your temper in check little D, I think I can handle this from here."

To say Lila's soul left her body from pure mortification was a grievous understatement.

-*-

 **@ _WE_PublicRelations_** _We would just like to address proper decorum for future Wayne Enterprise tours, during our regular or irregular tour seasons. Falsehoods will be treated as the slander and defamation to character they are. A general list of tour group rules, regulations, and expected decorum can be found on our official site. Also @WE_ResearchandDevelopment will be unveiling their latest project later this month. Stay tuned for updates! [link to official site: www.WEtoursneedtoknows.WE.org]_

_#commonsensepeople #dontgetpaidenoughtodealwithidiots #liarsmakemyjobharderthanitneedstobe #ceaseanddesistorfaceourlawyers #onlyoutsidersdocraplikethisingotham #cantihaveacoldinpeace #canneitherdenyorsupporttheclaimofanewwayne #unrelatednotesawthenewestwayneshwsfreakingadorable_

-*-

 _ **@ImDeadTiredTM**_ _Just watched a verbal smackdown between french class and #babywayne. lol_

_#NewestWayne aint even tryna stop him._   
_#bitchdeservedit #sheslanderedthewaynes #IAmShooketh #NooneinsultsRichardGraysonInBabyWaynesPresence #NewestWayne_

-*-

 _**@NettieBringsDuPain** _ _A beast has been vanquished, those who know me know what I'm going on about but I shall provide no further context. This isn't a shit post, just... a message to the world that I HAVE GOTTEN MY ONE WISH COME TRUE!!_

_#VICTORYISMINE #Petty?Yes #DoICare? #No? #WhatKindOfQuestionIsThat?_

-*-

It was an awkward affair being marched out of the canteen with her class, mainly because most of the class was only guilty in not telling Lila to shut her mouth but they were all being treated like they'd said the rumour themselves.

She guessed that when you looked at it at the most basic level, they essentially had. They were guilty through negligence.

Marinette didn't mind being marched out with the rest of her class - despite how Damian had tried to protest (which was pretty damn sweet actually)- because the Wayne's needed to show they would have no tolerance from a class in any regard for slander.

Her class didn't have the same understanding nature. They were grumbling all the while, complaining that they _hadn't done anything_ while missing the fact that that was the entire issue.

Once they had been escorted to a private and unused conference room they were all instructed to sit down in the chairs which everyone did in a charged silence. Bustier looked seconds away from breaking down into a banshee-like fit, and Lila was still pulling the fake tears card, though she too was muted in her acting.

Grayson stood at the end of the table, watching everyone of them with a feral anger brimming under his skin. He was a protector, through and through to his core and it showed.

"Alright everyone," it was the same words he'd greeted them with that morning, but now they were devoid of joy, falsified or otherwise, "Let me make one thing clear to everyone, lying is a disgusting habit and you should never do it for personal gain."

Marinette kept her eyes forward, despite how much she wanted to turn her eyes towards Lila who's fake sobs had ceased, "Now that I've said that, I've been assured by your teacher that you all signed the agreement before you visited our site- an agreement that clearly stated that if you slandered another in the building it would be treated seriously."

Grayson paused, and for a few seconds she thought it was for dramatic effect but quickly realised it was to control his am very shaking, "That extended to classmates of yours and of course Wayne Enterprise staff. We have a zero tolerance policy here. Do any of you know what slander means?"

When no response was given, more out of fear than ignorance, he answered his own question.

"By definition slander is the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. Now you may be thinking why am I asking you this? Simple answer really, because saying my baby brother is dating you in the middle of his father's HQ and then claiming that I, a twenty eight year old, had at any point gone out with you is wrong and extremely slanderous."

"But Mr. Grayson-"

"But nothing Mme. Bustier, " Bustier's face dropped at the quick dismissal, "You realise the things your student is saying would warrant a police investigation of myself if anyone were stupid enough to believe it? You also realise, surely, that your sixteen year old student implying she's been dating my baby brother for three and a half years is disgusting?"

She could see Grayson's temper flaring more and more, "Because that would imply that she's been dating someone three years younger than her for three years. And not only that, my brother was still living with his mother at the time, extremely isolated, so it is literally impossible for that to of happened."

"You don't understand Mr.Grayson, Lila suffers from a rare condition in which she is forced to lie-"

The sharp, sudden, laughter and sporadic change in demeanour cut Mme. Bustier off quicker than any words could have, Grayson near doubled over and Marinette shifted in her chair more than prepared to get up and over to the older man.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" The sheer venom in Grayson's words halt her thoughts of helping him. The self-preservation part of her brain tells her to run, to hide and not cause his anger to be directed at her, "I know I may not appear highly intelligent, what with my disarming personality, but I can assure you, I am not stupid enough to believe that."

Tikki in her bag bumps against her hand where she has it placed over it in some crude form of protection.

"I have quite a few siblings Mme. Bustier, many of which have a variety of mental illnesses and disorders, and you know what I've learnt in my time?" A grin that would of seemed so innocent were it not for the venomous tone that accompanied it was given to Bustier, "Pathological lying is _not_ a disorder, it is only **linked** to disorders or is due to a variety of factors in early childhood where the lying is used as a safety blanket or a coping mechanism."

"What...? That can't be true Mr. Grayson, the disorder is in Lila's file!"

"I'm glad you brought that up, seeing as the school gave us access to your students files to allow us to run background checks on them all before they arrived." Butler's face paled even more, "Curiously all the disorders and illnesses in Lila's file have no connection to pathological lying. Not only that, but it's stated that up until three years ago she was raised by nannies in Italy meaning there hasn't been a situation that could cause Lila to develop pathological lying due to circumstances."

Marinette didn't know how to feel right now, everything was being called out, but she still lived in fear that this would all backfire somehow, or that something would go wrong that would mean it would be turned on her.

Maybe Montoya and Noro had been right about Bustier gaslighting her.

"But regardless of that, you are attempting to create excuses to get a student out of trouble when they deserve to be punished."

Bustier didn't attempt to even try and defebd herself.

"You do that in the same day you would also try and blame your own student for putting their own safety first and accusing them of degrading things because of something you heard from a student you have just admitted has a lying disorder."

She knew Grayson was trying to be kind, trying to point out the issue but damn it all everyone was looking at her now.

"That tells me Bustier, that not only are you an unjust teacher you're also a biased one." The venom lessened but the spite remained, "Your students name has been noted and should be expecting a representative of the Wayne legal team to be visiting her mother in the next few days. As for the rest of your class you will not be continuing your tour at Wayne industry HQ, and for all the other activities you were going to do with us will be on a probationary basis."

Nothing was said as everyone sat in silence, "You'll be escorted out now, come on Marinette lets get going."

Standing and not daring to look at her classmates she made her way next to the door only stopping when Grayson did.

"Why the hell is Marinette going with you!? She's apart of this class as well!" Alya was the one shouting, and even Lila was staring at the would-be reporter as if wondering why she hadn't sewed her mouth shut yet.

"Because, Marinette is not under the custody of your teacher anymore." A ripple of confusion spread around the room, leaving her friends untouched, "She's under the custody of her older brother- a brother two of your classmates tried to say she was sleeping with because they saw her with him. Not to mention, her older brother happens ro be my younger brother."

One thought shot through her mind as Grayson finished speaking, ' _Grayson I am going to skin you for this._ '


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @FikaTimeBlitz for the first tweet from @I'mAliveB*tch
> 
> Pt1

_**@I'mAliveB*tch** Jesus Christ, hearing about this sh*tstorm is f*cking hilarious. My brother has been texting me what happens and, apparently my older brother showed his intelligence (for once) and now, my baby sister is gonna tear him apart outing THAT piece of information._

_#YouGoNettie #ICensorSh*t #UnlikeYouF*ckers #IKnowEnglish #BratAgreesWithHerForSomeReason #Dickie-birdIsn'tReadyIPresume? #IMightDieOfLaughter #DyingAgain #GoodbyeCruelWorld #AllMyPossessionsGoToMyLittleSisNettie_

-*-

Grayson didn't give any of her classmates a second to register the information because as soon as the words has left his mouth he had his hand on her shoulder and was gently steering her out of the room with a rushed pacing that made her hesitant to look over her shoulder.

A quick glance showed flabbergasted classmates and a twitching Alya that she didn't want to be in the way of when she processed the information.

It was going to be literal hell if Alya got her alone.

She'd never told the reporter about Jason; mainly because all Alya did was complain about her older sister (and when she wasn't complaining she was bragging) and Marinette could never figure out how to bring it up in casual conversation.

Nino and Kim had only known because at seven years of age Marinette had on more than one occasion kicked and screamed and refused to calm down because ' _I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE! I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT MY BIG BROTHER BACK!!'_ and after awhile her best friends had grown curious and asked who exactly this mysterious brother was.

(That day had been the most she'd ever cried, the only time that came close to it was yesterday when she hadn't stopped bawling randomly throughout the day.)

Alya took people not telling her things personally, she didn't understand why but the girl seemed to think that because she was your friend she was entitled to know everything about you.

All Marinette did know about it was that it made her want to pull her hair out in frustration.

"Dick." Was all she could hiss out as her (technically) older brother steered her towards the elevator. "You're an absolute _Dick_."

Somehow the elevator was empty as they stepped into it and Grayson only laughed, shifting his arm so it was around her shoulder and gave her hair a ruffle. "It comes with the territory."

She fought to keep the scowl on her face but it was a loosening battle.

"Welcome officially to the Wayne clan Marinette, it's a downward spiral from here."

-*-

The elevator brought them up to the top floor, which she presumed was Bruce's and Tim's floor.

It turned out she was right because as they exited the elevator they found Tim sprawled out on a couch, in front of a desk where a young man who looked barley out of university sat at ease behind the computer, babbling about some stupid stock shift that he'd apparently been arguing with Bruce about.

Bruce was sat on an identical couch on the left side of the room, where an elderly lady sat behind her desk, sipping from a thermos while Bruce griped to her about the exact same stock issue and why Tim was wrong.

At the very least they weren't at each others throats.

Neither Wayne seemed to notice them, faces buried too far into their notes and reasons for debate that they'd tuned out everything else. Grayson made a mumbled comment about how this was the most aggressive argument about business he'd ever seen between father and son and left Marinette with whiplash because of it.

If only Paris could be like this at peak aggression.

She still remembered when an akuma had gotten the entire Paris police department hunting them down. That had been a haunting experience; Marinette had always been sceptical about police before hand - it being too ingrained in her that there were plenty of dirty cops about- but after that akuma attack it had taken a long time for her to feel comfortable with the increased police presence on Paris' streets.

Sabrina's overwhelmingly cheerful father may of contributed to the readjustment. Because even if the girl herself was someone who was quick to shift loyalties according to the best possible outcome, her father was a man who was loyal to the people of Paris to a fault.

Robocop had proven that.

"Mr Grayson, nice to see you again, who's your friend?"

The causal tone the male receptionist used with Grayson threw her off for a few seconds before she just accepted that everyone in W.E. loved their Gotham Princes. 

"Nice to see you too Mr. Rodriguez, this is Marinette."

Giving a wave to Rodriguez she finished introducing herself because obviously Grayson's introduction had fallen short, "Hi Mr.Rodriguez, I'm a new friend of Damian's."

Not inaccurate, but also not entirely the truth. Then again it wouldn't do well to broadcast she was Jason's sister to everyone she meets.

Quick way to get yourself killed in Gotham, number one, make yourself seem worth killing.

A nobody who was friends with a Wayne kid was more likely to be held for ransom than killed, because after all the Wayne kid was just their friend there was no outstanding relationship there.

The younger sibling however? Maximum impact would be required and what better way to break someone than to murder their sibling just because? That wasn't to say she thought that any W.E. staff this close to the Wayne's were in league with rogues, but you could never be too careful.

Like everything else in Gotham, under the right circumstances W.E. would leak.

The look that scrutinized her showed disbelief and she figured it was justified, "Cool?"

"I persuaded him with my extensive knowledge of fencing." 


	32. Chapter 32

Rodriguez blinked for a few seconds before his smile returned, "You're Dupain-Cheng? Damian _was_ bragging about you, something about memes as well?"

"Damian said 'that sounds like a you problem' yesterday evening. It was wild." Tim joined the conversation then, and Grayson directed her towards the couch where the seventeen year old was sitting himself up.

"I figured if I showed him some memes it would cause some well timed comedy in the family's everyday life."

"I can see that, it's my lunch break now so I'll be back in half an hour Mr. Drake. It was nice meeting you Miss Dupain-Cheng."

"Have a good break Rodriguez."

Grayson ushered her to sit down next to Tim before moving to go sit next to Bruce who was still grumbling to himself about the stock matter.

"You just want him to say ok boomer to Bruce don't you?" The humour in Tim's voice was unmistakable and she could only shrug.

"Alas I must admit it's true... we aren't interrupting your work are we?"

"No, we got all the paperwork done for today and the meeting about the stock shift isn't until next week so we're effectively done for today."

She nodded and they sat in silence for a few minutes, the muted conversation of Grayson and Bruce to their left and the tapping of a keyboard from the older lady the only sounds in the room besides breathing.

It was near entrancing.

"So how are you feeling...?" The awkward and unsureness of the older boy's voice confused her, as did the question, "I mean Dick had his phone on speaker so we could hear the entire conversation in the canteen and the office. You must be angry at your class at the least right?"

For a few seconds she was annoyed that Grayson had let other people listen in on the matter by t the annoyance was gone ins seconds, as she realised that he would have had to get his father's permission to say with any certainty that Lila was being sued.

When she really sat there and thought about it she wasn't even angry at her class, devastated and spiteful most of the time yes, but she'd given up feeling anger at the stupidity of the herd long ago. After a while everything seemed to blur, lies, truth, emotions... Why would Marinette feel anger at her class?

So what if they were insensitive, cold hearted, pig headed fools?

So what if they were selfish and narcissistic and claimed to be doing what was best for everyone when they really only wanted to ignore the issue for an easy life?

So what?

Everything was a blur when it came to her class.

"I think I've reached the point where I don't even care any more." Closing her eyes Marinette scorched into the couch, "I don't even know why i got hysterical this morning... when it comes to the class I've just become numb to it all. All that I feel is... embarrassment?"

Taking a few seconds to collect her thoughts she was grateful that Tim didn't interrupt her train of thought, "Embarrassment that I'm associated with them, embarrassed that they can't see what everyone else can... it's unnatural how persuasive Lila is..."

"Her lies seemed to be pretty see through to me."

"You haven't seen Lila when she's in full control of a situation. I have a theory she's either meta or just a really persuasive psychopath. Her lies haze you and its only if there's a detail you know isn't true that you suddenly seem to break from a trance."

The older boy remained in silence then spoke his own thoughts, "I can see why you're indecisive between the two theories. Has she ever been exposed long term to America?"

"According to her."

Tim sighed, "Which is of course unreliable information... hey do you know a meme account called NettieBringsDuPain?"

Opening one eye she watched Tim carefully, watching how he didn't seem sarcastic and was genuinely asking, "I'd hope I'd know seeing as its my account."

"Really!?"

Pulling out her phone she opened Twitter and smirked at the Wayne heir, "Check your Twitter."

-*-

_**@NettieBringsDuPain** Shout out to my dude @TimDrakeWayneOffical who's like my main man right now, you know why I'm shouting you out, the rest of you may remain in the dark on what evil deeds we are conniving about together_

_#HawkmothIsAFlithyCasual #IHaven'tUsedThatInAWhile #ShoutOut #WayneBoy_

-*-

Tim looked up from his phone at her with something akin to awe.

"I am so jealous that Damian gets to learn memes from you. You're one of the first real meme accounts that I started following!"

A blush rose to her face at the praise. The account had always been for fun, she'd never expected it to pick up the way it had and to know someone considered it a 'proper' account of any degree was exhilarating, if a little anxiety inducing.

The thing about that though, was that she could shitpost about it and it'd relive tension. For once she didn't feel like she had to hold up a front.

Someone knew her 'deepest darkest' secret and there was a peculiar kind of satisfaction knowing her darkest secret was a shitpost meme Twitter account.

Hawkmoth would throw a coniption fit if he found that out. It was tempting to get alumatized just to tell the supervillain that; but then she ran the risk of him getting into parts of her mind she didn't want him having access to and then she also ran the risk of it being suspicious that she'd get akumatized just to tell him that - her a nobody.

Hawkmoth would ask too many questions, then her civilian persona would be targeted and if there was one thing Marinette did not need, it was trouble getting away from class to go all 'Tikki spots on!'

Which reminded her, she'd slipped Tikki some cookies during lunch but the poor Kwamii hadn't been free of her bag since the early hours of the morning.

Marinette felt like a shitty friend in that regard.

...wait.

Wait! Shitty Grayson! He'd tried to get Tim to distract her so she couldn't skin him for exposing her!

Whipping her head over in the direction of the eldest son she saw Bruce having long his work and instead was gesturing over to her with veiled amusement on his face.

Scowling as she pulled herself up she found herself cracking her knuckles in a decidedly Jason way as she stomped over, "Don't think you can just let your little brother distract me while you come up with an escape plan Grayson."

"Come on Marinette, it wasn't that bad..."

" _That bad?_ " She let a feral grin overtake her face, "Oh I'll show you not bad Grayson. Do you realise how much grief you've just garnered me?"

"The floors carpeted here Nettie, it'll be easier to dispose of him in the office, there's also a trash shoot down the hall from my office use that."

"Thanks Bruce."


	33. Not an update

I can't keep up with the update a day thing I've had going on, it's been a good run but I'm losing steam and the quality of - not to mention length of- my writing has suffered because of the strain of an update a day.

So now, the updates will come as they please and I'm not setting myself a schedule for updates so stay tuned.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An update a day after I say I'm not gonna update every day? More likely than you think. No, yesterday wasn't a rouse, I've taken my time with this, it's not even three thousand words and it took me literally six hours.
> 
> But enough of that! I'd like to say thank you for all the support, I wasn't fishing for any but it's appreciated. Like I said, there is no update schedule because those haven't worked in the past, and apparently the only consistent way of writing fic I have is; steamroll through, lose momentum, apologise and slowly try and grow momentum again.
> 
> It worked with my "The Old Bait and Switch" fic and that's like my pride and joy so it must be a decent strategy!

Before any serious maiming or violent action could occur a buzzing went off in her pocket, stopping her in her plan to drag Grayson to an office and rip into him.

This was incredibly surprising for the three reasons; one, her phone was smashed and currently unusable and two, it was currently on the desk in her room that Alfred had agreed to lock for her. And reason three, Alfred's phone that she was currently using whilst out and about was in her bag with Tikki.

Because of that she was quick to scramble for the phone in her jacket pocket, that now that she noticed was actually heavier by the slightest amounts.

Pulling the phone from her pocket she couldn't help the grin that stretched across her face, "That stupid tom cat..."

She didn't know when Adrien had snuck his phone into her pocket she just knew that he was an idiot for it. Who the Hell gave their phone away in Gotham? The sentiment remained though.

Pure luck dictated they'd all learnt the passcodes to each each others phones in case of emergencies. This wasn't what she would class as an emergency but hey, what could you do?

Marinette made quick work of answering Chloe's call and could just imagine the blonde's face on the other end of the call. 

"Nettie-Bug, did you like our present?"

"Is that what we're calling this?" She could feel her grin growing bigger," Because I thought it was pretty stupid on the cat's part."

"You know how Adrien is," a mental image of Chloe turning her head to watch Adrien do something that was probably stupid jumped to the forefront of her mind, "wouldn't stop worrying over you. It was nigh impossible to get the phone to you without you noticing though."

"You're all worthless pick pockets is the thing," being that she was just stood in the middle of the room she moved to be sat on the couch next to Tim again, "So who managed to slip it past my guard?"

"Damian."

The sheer agitation in the blondes tone was hilarious, but also the fact that they'd had to enlist a literal child assassin (not that any of them knew that) to slip a phone on her person was even more so.

You were supposed to have issues getting things _off_ of people's persons, not getting it _on_ them.

"Makes sense." Marinette brought a hand up to scratch her cheek, an unconscious gesture she found herself doing at random points. She'd never quite grasped why she constantly touched her face when talking though she suspected it was linked to her rising fear of her words being misinterpreted being exhibited as a minimal restriction on who knew what she was saying."So, light of my life, is there any particular reason why you're phoning?"

Most of the people in her class called Adrien a 'sunshine child' for his bright smiles and 'sunny' personality. For obvious reasons, Marinette called him a tom cat.

Chloe, being the only other blond in the group and also being stubborn enough to harness the might of the Sun if she ever got bored enough was given the title 'light' on their group chats.

It had started off as a joke about her being the most brightly coloured member of the group, then had turned into another joke about bees before finally settling on a taunt about harnessing the sun in which everyone had collectively agreed that there was no way a mortal such as Chloe's father had given DNA to the powerhouse that was Chloe.

That, and the total unanimous agreement that Audrey _was_ the kind of person who'd draw the attention of the literal personification of the Sun and manage to bed it only helped further the nickname.

It'd been a rather confusing conversation.

But because of the title of 'light' of the group and the main person (besides Alix, but Alix wasn't a hundred percent in the know) to defend her against all slander openly - with Adrien being much more sly and cat-like in his way of dealing with things- she'd become the light in Marinette's life.

Not something a Gothamite was entirely reliant upon, but something that brought joy and a hint of a thrill whenever they were spotted.

"Well, Moon to my Sun, it's a forecasting of the shitstorm ahead of us." She groaned and Chloe gave a tiny laugh in response, "I know... The followers are in disarray; as you predicted Ceasire is having a break down, I can't tell if it's out of humiliation or shame."

There was a pause before they responded in unison, "Humiliation."

"So there's that, Meylene is shell shocked, Ivan is currently trying to get conversation from her but you know how she is, feels guilt for everything that one."

"And we'd been going so well with solving that issue." She could garner from the looks the Wayne's were giving her that this conversation with what little they could gather from her end was concerning.

"Rose is...Rose. She's sat back here with us and Juleka, Nathaniel knew already so he's just doing his thing... Bustier is in a bit of a catatonic state at the moment." There was a noticeable drop in the volume of Chloe's voice, "Ceasire was filling in your position while you were gone, they won't listen to her right now so I'll try and stand in but I don't know how to handle them. I... never have admittedly and even less so now."

"Just take a deep breath first, being agitated in that kind of environment is good for nobody." Why didn't she ever use her own advice, "Now, just be yourself. Bossy, queen bee of all. You're our light for a reason, you have the ability to take charge of a situation and you've proven time and time again you can do it."

"Kwamii, Moon. You're turning me soft."

"Both me and Adrien- you can't forget lover boy."

"Ugh, I know, for someone without a crush he's so hopelessly romantic."

Bursting into a fit of giggles her face started to hurt from the smiling, and it hurt to know this was the most she'd experienced a reprieve of sorts (the past two days included) from the strain and stress of Ladybug.

Marinette was putting it down to poor Noroo being forced to tell Hawkmoth if the Miraculous' were still in close proximity and with them obviously not being in Paris the attacks had been non-existent. Or Kagami and Luka were falling back on contingency plan 43: store the akuma in a jar and wait for Ladybug to come back via Kaliki.

Dear Kwamii she hoped they weren't following contingency plan 43!

"Hey, serious for a moment light, did Kagami mention if anything was...wrong? Like, did something happen at 43rd these past few days?"

"No." Chloe didn't miss a beat, "Nothings happened at 43rd, Mr.H has been sleeping for the past few days."

The relief she felt upon that burden being lifted was near euphoric.

"You're sure?"

"Nettie-Bug, Moon, my dearest friend in this whole entitled world - and I mean entitled you grammar correcting fanatic who can't even verbally use grammar correctly- breath."

"But-"

"But nothing, nothing is wrong back home, Kagami and Luka would of _called_ if there was. Now kwamii forbid, you are going to enjoy the time you have with your brother's or I'm going to find you and kick your backside so that you get coddled half to death by them."

There were a few seconds where neither of them spoke and then Marinette felt her voice come back, "You're such a softie. Queen bees and those that harness the sun are meant to be of sterner stuff."

"My exterior must be impenetrable to protect all the gooey, softie stuff inside. You know this."

"...Yeah. Yeah I do. I'll phone you later tonight?"

"Sure thing. Will it be a group call because currently your brood are glaring at me for keeping their mother duck away."

"It'll be a group call, and if they bother you just give them the neutral face of disappointment for me."

Chloe laughed, and Marinette could actually envision how she'd slump into the bus chair, lean her head on the window because Chloe refused a seat that wasn't a window seat, and smile while pretending the antics of their group didn't give her a sense of belonging.

Her Queen Bee was a tsundere like that.

"Will do, bye."

"Bye."

-*-

 _**@DickGrayson** _ _You can tell off the bat who our new sister is related to, same death threats, same refusal to say my name correctly it'd take being blind and deaf not to know._

_But that aside, my French is limited in the extensive category (I'm a Romani, Spanish and Mandarin guy myself) but I'm pretty sure my new sister just finished talking to her 'friend' on the phone and I've heard the words 'lover boy' and the phrase 'light of my life' and my big brother senses are tingling._

_Who is this mysterious person? Because the voice didn't sound male but a lot of male pronouns were used and a lot of female ones as well?? Someone help?_

_All my other siblings have just either outed themselves or brought a partner to dinner how do you approach the 'Okay, so we THINK you're dating some is it true?' conversation bc we'll need to give Damian that one day and I'm #NotPrepared_

_#IJustWroteParagraphs #Why?? #SheSoundedSoHappyThough?? #DoIEncourageOrDoIHaveAChatAboutRelationships?? #TheNewSiblingIsn'tAsEmotionallyStuntedAsTheRestOfUsSoTheUsualMethodsAreNotWorking_

_**@I'mAliveB*tch** _ _I'm sorry what?? @DickGrayson why the h*ll are you, B and Drake hoarding this knowledge that blasting it on social media?? I should have been informed jacka***es and you don't just post sh*t like that!_

_#ThisIsMySister #WhyHaveIBeenLeftInTheDark #BruceDidYouKnow? #OfCourseYouKnew_

**_@W.E._RumourMill_ ** _Is this confirmation of which brother the new daughter is related to?? But then again, death threats and refusal to say a name correctly links to two brothers and one is on social defending her right to privacy and the other is on site being an attached younger sibling who's defending his sisters right to not be taken out with her class so...??_

_Wayne's we're dying here, the Gothamite public are dying! Who's the new princess? We love our current ones, Cassandra and Stephanie are our pride and joy but who's the new baby princess?_

_#SunshineChild #WeCaughtHerNameButWe'reWaitingForYouGuys #W.E.RespectTheWaynePrincess'RightToPrivacySoWeWon'tGoFurtherThanThis #HatersAndDoxersComeAtUsWeDefendEachOther #GothamitesProtectTheirOwn #RememberTheTimeTheRougeGalleryGaveShelterAndSuppliesToPeopleWhenTheJokerHadControlForAWeek?? #TheRougesDefendGothamitesWhenTheNeedArisesWhatDoYouThinkWeWillBeAbleToDo? #_ _NewWayne_

-*-

"Holy shit you're trending."

Leaning to see Tim's screen she snorted when she saw she was trending in two ways, the first on #NewWayne and the second on her Kwamii forsaken meme account.

"This is simultaneously the best and worst thing of my life. People are going to make conspiracy theories that we're the same person. Which I mean is true but-"

"Oh my sweet Jesus...you're an internet cryptid."

"Tim I think I've hit peak meme Lord status."

-*-

 _**@TimDrakeWayneOffical** _ _In light of the recent theories circulating my shout out and the newest Wayne, I'd just like to say good job to my dear friends @NettieBringsDuPain for achieving internet cryptid status._

_#ItsWhatTheyDeserve #TheTheoriesKeepRollingIn_


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated and I wanted to apologize.  
> I went from daily updates to just dropping off the face of the planet and I apologize but I needed to take a break before I burned myself out and then read through a couple dozen ML/DCU fics to get my inspiration back.

_**@**_ ** _AwooAwoo_ **_I just met the POSSIBLY new Wayne everyone is talking about and um_...? _Humble and adorable? I've got to put money on who's she's related to but it's so hard!_

_#NewWayne #WayneFeatures_

**_@W.E.Human_Recources_ ** _We would like to remind all W.E. headquarters employees of the nondisclosure agreement you all signed upon working for W.E. this is purely for the girl in questions privacy and safety. Sorry @WE_PublicRelations for stepping on your toes but Mr.Wayne asked us to put the message out._

_#PrivacyMatters #HopeYourColdLeavesYouSoonPR #TBHSheIsAdorable_

-*-

"So..." looking up from where she and Tim had been scrolling through her respective trending Twitter tags Marinette caught sight of the slightly anxious look on Grayson's face, "Was that your friends?"

"Yeah." She couldn't help the grin spread across her face as she held up the newly acquired phone, "My friends enlisted Damian to sneak one of their phone's onto my person."

"One of them gave up their phone in Gotham?"

It was Tim next to her who responded, sounding just as incredulous as she'd felt upon discovering the phone.

"Yep. Pretty boy is still trying to break out of old habits." Shrugging her shoulders she set the phone down on her lap.

"What are your friends like?" She raised a brow at Grayson's question but decided to out her scepticism aside for the moment.

"Adrien is a sweetheart, up until a few years ago he lived completely isolated with his hermit of a father - he's the one that gave up his phone." Once more she gestured at the phone.

"Chloe is... interesting, she used to be really stuck up but once you get past that she's just really insecure and acts like a real _queen bee_ at times."

"Why do I feel like we're missing out on a joke?"

"Sorry, personal joke between the two of us." Waving off their curiosity she continued, "Kim and Nino have been my friends since I first went to France. For years we've done everything together; it might not seem like it now but Kim used to be the one to get us out of trouble."

No way was she going to tell her technically older brothers that she had nearly committed acts of arson under the age of ten, but it was still funny to remember Kim's frantic expression as he'd tried to figure out how the hell she and Nino had acquired a lighter and accelarant.

Jason would probably be proud but from what she'd seen Grayson was the helicopter sibling and Tim was the 'i forget about it until it can be used as blackmail' sibling.

Given who she suspected their alter egos were it made sense - but in no way was she throwing Tim a bone in regards to anything Paris lest Red Robin discover her identity.

Bruce and Damian knew she was Ladybug, she suspected Jason also knew, but whether or not Greyson and Tim knew was up for discussion. Logically she would assume Bruce would tell his sons their identities were compromised and to explain _how_ she'd figured it out he'd have to give up her own alter ego.

Alfred knew she was Ladybug, but he also was one of Noroo's past holders so he could see champions with the residue of the Kwamii's powers within him so she'd never really had a chance at hiding it from the old man.

The Wayne sisters were also up for debate and so was Barbra Gordon. Once you'd figured out who some of the Bats were it was easy; honestly it was a little too easy.

"I met Alix and Max at the start of college, which is middle school over here, and Alix is super into sports buts she's also a massive history buff. Max is a computer genius to be honest."

At her words she noticed Tim perk up from where he was hunched over his phone, she now had his undivided attention, "He even made his own personal robot. Markov is like the class' unofficial little brother."

"He _made_ Markov? Is he a simple humanoid design or is Markov some kind of animal-like robot?"

"Neither, he's a little floating robot. How Max figured out how to get him to fly is beyond me but he's so cool!"

-*-

 _**@BruceWayneOffical** _ _@DickGraysonOfficial stop gossiping about the poor girl. You're well aware if your brother catches wind of it you'll be under heavy fire correct?_

_#TooManyChildren #DadsGetTierdToo_

**_@DickGraysonOffical_ ** _B, we're in the same room why do you need to shout at me on Twitter? Also I'm well aware my younger brothers follow me on Twitter why else would I project my question to the internet? (@CassandraCain) Cass would murder me if I tried to ask the family group chat when she hasn't even met our sister yet._

_#CassIsScary #NewSister #NewWayne_

**_@W.E._RumourMill_** _Are we all just going to ignore the fact that on VERY public tweets the two eldest Wayne's (@APennyworth is in a league of his own so that's why he isn't included) have managed to talk about the new Wayne but have revealed nothing about her? ALSO! @W.E.Human_Resources and @W.E._PublicRelations owe me money!_

_#BossThankYouForMakingANonWorkRelatedTweetAboutYourNewKid #IAmAboutToBeFiftyDollarsRicherSuckers #RespectPrivacyJuice_

**_@APennyworth_ ** _The young miss does not wish to disclose her personal information, and on behalf of the Wayne family @W.E._RumourMill thank you for attempting to dissuade people not acting in her best interest._

_#ThankYou #NewWayne_

**_@W.E._RumourMill_ ** _Oh God's, oh God's. I got a shout out from Mr.Pennyworth this is worth more than my years salary to me. Quick reminder again folks to not doxx people! It's a major endangerment to them and their families!!_

_#WhyAreSoManyOfYouGuysAholes?? #NewWayneIsALiteralChild #NewWayneAlsoClearlyHasFamilyOutsideTheWayne'sSoWhyDoYouGuysHaveToTryAndEndangerThem??_

-*-

A few hours after entering the top floor of Wayne Enterprise (in which time Rodriguez had come back from his break), she'd exhausted half of her topics of conversation with Tim and Grayson because neither boy could stay on one topic for long it seemed. Throughout the various topics she managed to fit in time for finalising some of her preferred designs.

Somehow they kept circling around to business and fashion which she didn't know how to take.

Did they think she was MDCT (they'd mentioned the elusive designer multiple times) which they wouldn't be wrong about and it was fairly obvious if you knew her designs and her initials.

How many identity reveals was she going to have to have with her new brothers again? Because she was fairly certain most people didn't even have one, but MDCT would be what? The third?

The first being as Jason's sister and not some random stray with black hair and blue eyes Bruce had picked up, the second would be Ladybug and MDCT would be the third. 

Because Alfred knew she was the Guardian did that mean she'd have to tell them as a separate issue to Ladybug?

In hindsight saying 'I use magically jewellery to fight crime' was an entirely different issue to 'I protect and issue out magical jewellery to teenagers and have a magical spell tying my very soul to the protection of the jewellery box none of you knew was even in my room.'

It was all very confusing and Marinette would rather _not_.

She couldn't even shoot over to Twitter as her shitpost handle! She'd logged out of the account on Alfred's phone and upon revealing Adrien's phone she'd handed the old man's phone off to Bruce, and no way in hell was she logging onto her account on Adrien's phone!

Not to say she was embarrassed about her meme account but they'd already teased her about the MDCT account because of how the online persona was so unlike her real life personality. She didn't need her constant memey tired 3 AM dumb idiot self being revealed to her friends unless it was on her own terms.

Just like her execution via Kagami.

She and Tim had just finished explaining to Grayson about why ' _Gabriel'_ was the Lex Corp equivalent to the ' _Bourgeois_ ' brand when a now familiar ping went off in her head.

Unable to help herself she found her head snapping over to the elevator just in time to see it open on a less pissed off Damian.

It hadn't occurred to her earlier that the boy hadn't accompanied them or that he wasn't with his father and older brother, but now she was genuinely curious as to where he'd been.

Not to undermine the younger boy, but the way his vice had been revealing in the destruction it thought Damian would cause was cause for concern and would have left any normal person unable to control their emotions.

Of course, Damian seemed to be aware of what the vice was, and she supposed Bruce probably knew that as well, so it wasn't a stretch to assume there was probably some 'safe space' within the building for people to let out their emotions.

Chloe had said her mother's branches all had distress rooms, where anyone dealing with intense emotions could go and work through their issues so that it didn't effect their work. Bruce seemed like the kind of person to have something like that.

"Hey little D, how are you feeling?" Grayson's tone was softer than she'd heard it before and reached the conclusion that the eldest was the go-to when it came to dealing with an emotional Damian.

"I am uncompromised if that is what you're asking Grayson." 

The younger boy's response was robotic, but a quick check of his chakra showed the vice was relatively dormant right now.

"Hey Damian," she didn't soften her voice like Grayson, she didn't think they were quite close enough yet for Damian to appreciate her treating him like he was fragile, "I'm trending on twitter, do you want to see the shitshow going on online?"

"Language Marinette."

"Sorry Bruce." The apology was out of her mouth before she could even really think about it and she pretended that the older Wayne brothers weren't giving her teasing looks for not even trying to fight Bruce on her language.

"What would Todd think of you Marinette?" The younger boy sounded slightly less on edge as he walked over to where she, Tim and Grayson were squished onto one couch, "This is complacency is a far cry from our first meeting."

Not caring of the obvious jab she shot a discrete middle finger to the boy who didn't smile so much as let the permanent crease between his brows lessen.

Progress, no matter how small, was progress.

"What do you mean?"

This could go two ways.

One, mention the Ladybug meet up and tip Grayson and Tim off if they weren't already in the know _or_ act as if that never happened and use their blunder of a first interaction at the precinct as their first meeting.

"Marinette exhibited a lack of restraint to an opposing force the first time we met." Damian issued his cryptic words with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What the fuck is that meant to mean Demon Spawn."

"Tim."

"Sorry Bruce."


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're all going to drink Good Dad Bruce Juice in this fic folks alright??  
> Because I'm electing to ignore the rather blatant discrepancies in how D.C. portrays Bruce as a parent.
> 
> Not to say he's perfect, no parent ever is, but we will be having no border line abusive Bruce in this wholesome fic. Though is it even wholesome still with what poor Nettie has been put through?
> 
> Also fair warning there's a bit of an info dump this chapter? I just kind of needed to flesh out some things and it resulted in Marinette just spewing a hell of a lot of information at you poor readers.

"Really though, what does that even mean Demon Spawn?!"

Damian shifted his weight where he was stood, trying to make himself appear larger than he was which tipped her off that he was going to try and incite a fight with Tim.

It was the same stance he'd made against Jason at the precinct before the two had devolved into toddlers and began having a fight in the middle of the police station. If anything she was just concerned for how the heir's turned vigilantes hadn't managed to kill each other yet.

Especially given the state of some of their chakras!

If Marinette hadn't seen Jason and Damian for herself and had only seen their vices she wouldn't have thought they were in the primes of their health as they obviously are.

"Marinette? Can you _please_ enlighten us about demon spawn's cryptic words?"

With an air of tranquillity and sagedom she hoped replicated Montoya's display she looked between the brothers. "You have all the pieces you need, you're just missing the context to put them together."

"..." Damian was smirking from where he was stood and the two other brothers looked even more confused when Bruce gave a huff of amusement.

"That makes even less sense!"

No way was she telling them she was Ladybug, this was way too much fun!

-*-

Eventually, they were picked up by Alfred and driven back to the manor. Walking through the lobby of W.E. headquarters hadn't been nearly as intimidating that morning but the stress was turned up to max when she was nearly flanked by all four Wayne's.

In all honesty it was embarrassing but Damian ranting to her about Tim and how the 'coffee addict doesn't have any remaining brain cells!' helped her remain calm.

Alfred smiling at her and assuring her that she would indeed get used to it all did also help her.

She'd noticed a surprising lack of cameras pointed at them as they'd left the building but the amount of W.E. official accounts advocating for her privacy and the fact Bruce owned one if the most prominent papers in Gotham she brushed it off.

The fact that even when Bruce had only had Grayson as part of the Wayne, Gotham had adored the Way be family probably didn't hurt either.

If there was one thing Gotham was proud of it was the humanitarian aid and overall comedy fest the Wayne's contributed to the city.

Bruce had long since stopped trying to be the 'Playboy billionaire' he'd acted like in his youth and from her research of the Wayne's she'd found most stories that were about Bruce as a person were just him being a doting and tired father.

(There had been **one** article about how Bruce must surely be in a romantic relationship with Batman because whenever Batman was heavily injured Bruce would suddenly book holidays to private therapeutic locations. Marinette could still remember how _Alya_ the report had sounded.)

Grayson had had a rocky reputation when she was younger, through no fault of his own though. At first everyone had just speculated whether or not he was a charity case or if Bruce had finally decided to settle down. Now though most of the reports on him were about how he had a blossoming career as a police officer and yet still managed to be a representative of his father's company.

Unfortunately there weren't any gossip rag tales about an elicit affair between himself and his alter ego.

Jason barely had any news stories on him outside of his disappearance when the Joker kidnapped him ( _kidnapped him as Robin_ was the most likely truth) and then his reappearance a few years later. The Wayne's were playing it off as Jason being near mortally wounded and Bruce letting his kid live off the grid before he felt it was safe enough to return.

Red Hood and Jason had had some reasonably reliable sources correlate them. Although the theory had been all but abandoned when the idea became engulfed with 'Jason Todd became a crime lord whilst in witness protection' theories which got more than a few accusations thrown around.

Vikki Vale had _really_ not liked that.

Apparently the reporter had gone on a three hour live stream rant about how she knew! She knew Jason Todd had been alive for years because she had photographic evidence didn't you know!

Of course that had then lead to the stream having to be taken down because everyone was suddenly interested in why Vikki Vale had been stalking a potentially dead man and from her own words hadn't informed a grieving man his child was alive.

Nadja had told her all about it when she'd been researching Gotham during one of her babysitting sessions for Manon. The reporter had come home less haggard than usual and had been happy to help Marinette become more knowledgeable about her roots.

Tim was honestly the most interesting after Damian. One of the youngest CEO's ever - even if he was only still co-CEO - the teen was so interesting in the newspaper's because he simply didn't show up outside of official Wayne Enterprise interviews and the occasional cryptid-like shot of him.

That was his thing according to some of the less reputable papers she'd scoured in her search to learn anything about the people she'd one, managed to impress and two, would most likely be having to apologize about Lila to. 

She was pretty sure Tim enjoyed having Cryptid status, the less the public knew his face the easier it would be for his insomniac self to slog from one coffee establishment to the next.

Damian was definitely the most interesting when it came to appearances in the media. It was amazing how Lila had managed to fumble so horribly with her story when you couldn't go through half the stories about Damian Wayne without being constantly reminded that he had only appeared when he was ten, and that he was a green-eyed clone of Bruce.

That was her only point of contention with the physical descriptions she'd read about Damian. It was obvious he had middle eastern blood in him, his skin tone gave it away and the lilt to his accent told her English was most certainly not his first language.

And if you looked closer you could see the his jaw was rounder than Bruce's and his eyes were a little bit sharper.

Small, possibly inconsequential details that she'd picked up on. Nobody else probably cared, but having been compared to Sabine for a long time (of course she wouldn't look like her _adopted mother_ ) because of their similar ethnicities she knew what it felt like to be told you were supposed to look like your parents.

( _She couldn't remember who'd told her, but once she'd been told that aside from her obviously Asian features she looked just like Catherine. At the time it had been a welcome compliment because it made her feel like she was actually part of the Todd family by something other than Jason and her last name._ )

Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown were like Tim in the regard that they were hardly ever in the papers.

But unlike Tim's self induced cryptid statue, Cassandra Cain had forbid anyone to take her photograph whilst she was in school and at the age of nineteen had moved to Hong Kong to start up a children's charity associated with the Martha Wayne Foundation.

Stephanie had seemed similar to Jason in a way. Nobody really took interest in her; she was just another one of Bruce Wayne's eccentric brood and aside from the occasional gossip story about her supposed past as a small time vigilante/anti-hero, that seemed slightly too unbelievable even for Marinette, there really wasn't much to say about her.

Apparently she'd joined her sister in Hong Kong to work as the representative of Wayne Enterprise in that branch.

Marinette had to wonder if Bruce set up more international branches the more children he acquired?

-*-

 _**@WamBamThankYouMa'am** _ _@NettieBringsDuPain is really going to just ignore the utter Hell that has erupted after her shout out from @TimDrakeWayneOffical ?? What an absolute icon._

_#WeStanAQueen #ShitposterAppreciation_

**_@What_A_Laugh_ ** _I think the fact that #CryptidWayne gave her a shout out and then our fave went into radio silence is hilarious. @TimDrakeWayneOffical what did you do to her??_

_#CryptidWayne #AmericaExplain!!_

**_@Curtains_Lurtains_ ** _Is NOBODY going to talk about the fact that @NettieBringsDuPain went to **GOTHAM** at the same time as there's a suspected NEW WAYNE and then she gets a shout out from Tim Drake?? Nobody??_

_#AmericaExplain #Suspicious #CryptidWayne #ConspiracyTheories_

**_@Till_The_Cows_Come_Home_ ** _@Curtains_Lurtains next you'll be saying that @MDCT is actually @NettieBringsDuPain_

_#ConspiracyTheoriesSuck_

**_@Curtains_Lurtains_ ** _Well @Till_The_Cows_Come_Home I wasn't going to say anything but everyone was thinking it!_

_#MDCT #ConspiracyTheories_

-*-

The trip back to the manor was quick and filled with idle chatter that thankfully didn't circle back around to her and Damian's first meeting nor her fashion alter ego.

When they left the limo she'd been about to follow after the others when Alfred flagged her down before she could follow them to the living room.

"Miss Marinette, I was wondering if we could have a word." 

"Of course, did something happen?"

Alfred waved off her concern as he lead her towards the kitchen, "While it is in reference to your job, I can assure you nothing went wrong."

She could feel a ball of stress unravelling itself in her chest. The mere thought of the Kwamii having some ill fate befall them while she was revelling in the start of Lila's downfall made her feel guilty.

"I'd like to remind you of my offer of assistance, in regards to your duties, but I'd also like you to explain to me what Noroo's new holder is doing."

That was an odd request.

"I understand Noroo's abilities quite intricately, and if I can give you any insight or provide any weakness' of the miraculous I want to tell you."


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!! I went on a bit of a manic spree with my BNHA Kumicho series and its at a bit of an intense part and honestly? After pumping out near five chapters (all of which are somewhat mentally draining) on the bounce I realised why updating THIS fic everyday was bad for my health.
> 
> But I'm back, and I'm here to offer an update that will probably sort out a few inconsistencies in the storyline and provide you all with some good KMN content because damn it the fandom needs more of it!
> 
> But it's also short so sorry guys!!

"What do you mean by weaknesses? The Butterfly has a weakness?"

It's a revelation, that's for sure. Because surely if it's _true_ then Fu should have told her- if it's true surely her master wouldn't have let himself lose all his knowledge without telling her.

"You didn't know? I was under the impression it was the Guardian's job to know the ins and out of the Kwamii."

Alfred isn't accusatory, he's just genuinely confused and Marinette feels a kinship with that. Because she too, has no fucking clue what is going on.

She slumps against the kitchen counter, thankful when Alfred doesn't mention anything and just lets her deflate, he's obviously thinking back to when she mentioned that Fu wasn't the best mentor.

"My training got cut short, Fu was about to be found, and it was all kind of rushed." It still hurts to think of the blank look Fu had given her, and it hurts even more to remember how her heart had twisted when he did recognize her, but only as the girl that helped out on weekends, not his pupil, "I assume the weaknesses of our sworn enemy was going to be a crash course the week I finalized the strike on his home base."

The elderly gentleman across from her doesn't _snort_ but it's the closest thing she can imagine Alfred creating to a snort.

"Yes, Fu did seem rather scattered when I knew him during the war." There's a (she doesn't want to say wistful because she can only imagine the horrors Alfred saw during the war) look on Alfred's face like he's revisiting a memory before he continues, "but back to weaknesses and what exactly Noroo's new holder is doing."

And like that the pretence of peace is shattered and she forces herself to sit upright. This is a Guardian and a past weilder there's not time to act like a teenager wallowing in self pity.

"Of course. You understand the champion powers that Noroo grants, what emotions did **you** use to incite a transformation?"

-*-

She's just a little shaken after learning everything from Alfred, well not everything but the basics, and realising how corrupt a holder Hawkmoth is.

' _Because he's so corrupt would his Kwamii residue be different to Alfred's?_ ' It's a brief but prominent thought that flirts through her mind as she runs up to her room to check on the miracle box.

Alfred had assured her that he'd make up an excuse for her so that the brothers don't think she's being rude. 

Marinette trusts Alfred, she trusts him as a person and as a Guardian putting trust in a former wielder but paranoia dictates she check on the Kwamii. Little gods they may be, but it's still her responsibility.

A responsibility that's probably far too large for one person, but seeing as as far as she knows she's the only living member of the Guardian order anymore it's not exactly something she can bemoan.

Not to mention the _failsafe_.

She'll have to train another Guardian one day, but she won't just shove it on some random child - if Marinette has to she'll stow away to Tibet and start an international orphanage and introduce the idea of the Guardian order that way.

Although that sounds like the way someone would start a cult so she'll have to sidebar that idea for the moment.

The idea is shoved aside into the mental recycling bin where she's pretty sure all her half-baked failed plans from the second chances she doesn't remember are stored.

When she gets into the room and everything is where it's supposed to be she's relieved. She looks properly and notices a giant great Dane on her bed being cooed over by the Kwamii's she less than relieved.

"What the fuck?"

He dane looks over at her, seemingly sizing her up before jumping off the bed and trotting over to her. In a numb state of shock, because what the fuck, she crouched down and lets the dog sniff at her hand before all pretence of politeness leaves the dog and she's knocked to the floor before being suffocated in love and kisses from the thing.

"Marinette!"

A few voices call out at once but she can't really distinguish them because her heads on the floor and she's being lovingly accosted by a great dane who seems to believe it's his purpose in life to send her to the next life via drowning in dog kisses.

Considering her plan to jump into French traffic is a no-go it honestly isn't that bad of a way to go.

"Titus!"

At the shout the dog - Titus- backs off and Marinette sits up and coughs a little, grateful for the air in her lungs, before turning to face the door to the room to be greeted by a worried Jason and a confused yet seemingly delighted Damian.

Titus trots over to Damian, sitting and preening as if nearly killing her with kisses was something worthy of praise. Given that she suspects Damian's supposed past as a child assassin isn't supposed it would make sense. At the very least she wasn't hounded - ha, Adrien would be proud of that one- by a Katana wielding dog.

Jason is upon her and helping lift her up onto her feet as soon as Titus leaves her side and as she tries to get her feet back under her she can hear him snickering.

"Wow, the mighty Ladybug taken down by a dog." If she wasn't still slightly disoriented the kick at his shin would have landed just a little bit higher.

"You didn't tell me there was a dog in the manor," she turns to Damian at that who looks the softest she's seen so far, crouched in front of the dog like she had been and lovingly scratching him behind the ears, "I would have given him all the loves he wanted."

Damian doesn't look away from Titus but it doesn't really matter because Jason had at some point deposited her on her bed and she startlingly realises the Kwamii left her to fend off the kisses of death all on her own.

Thank Kwamii. They were starting to welcome her wish to just fucking die for like a few seconds that wasn't involved in an akuma attack.

It takes a few minutes and a lot of shuffling but finally she, Jason, Damian and Titus are arranged on her bed. If she didn't know how Damian would react she'd make a joke about it being her first all girls sleep over since arriving in Gotham.

However, until she gets a gage on how Damian reacts to those kind of comments she isn't going to be the one to make them.

"So, what's up?" She's still keyed up with nervous energy from the Lila confrontation (and she still needs to get back at Grayson for that) so it's unsurprising that her hands start tracing an unknown pattern onto her leg, "Apart from your vigilante senses kicking in and saving me from death by dog kisses."

Jason's eyes are flitting around the room, probably taking in the fact that everything has been moved and shifted to some degree so that she'd been able to sweep for bugs. His eyes stop however on the nightstand and she knows he's spotted the miracle box.

Damon's eyes follow and green narrow before flitting between her and the box before seemingly coming to his own conclusion and nodding. "Pennyworth informed us you were finishing up your unpacking, and the others told Todd about my cryptic answers so-"

"We decided to mess with them. How about it Nettie, you want to screw with their heads until they realise what's going on under their noses?"

She takes a moment to 'ponder' the proposition before giving a wide grin to her older brother, "Absolutely. What do you take me for Jason? A respectable individual?"

"Of course not." Jason's grin isn't as honest as it had been yesterday and she sits upright properly, "You're from Gotham."

"What's this really about?"

As if sensing the soon to be rising tension Titus whines and shuffles his head so that Damian starts giving the great dane head scratches.

"Alfred informed Bruce you had precious cargo and to leave your room alone, then Demon Spawn here mentioned that you said you're in charge of more than one set of magical jewellery." She didn't know where this conversation was going, "and we wanted to confirm or deny a few things."

"What things?"

She could really use the Kwamii right now, but hell if she was going to reveal their existence to a non-miraculous user. Jason was her big brother and she'd trust him with a lot of things but the twin vices Jason and Damian have makes her wary to reveal anything major about the miracle box.

"Is that the miracle box?"

Well fuck. There goes her plan then.

There goes not revealing anything major, she didn't think there was anything bigger than knowing both what it was and what it was named.

"I don't know what that is."

Maybe it's a fluke? Maybe he thinks it's something else.

"Marinette," the severity of Damian's tone sets her on edge, "there is only one thing in existence that the ancient underworld knows of that fits the description of magical artefacts and the powers that the Parisian heroes have."

Oh great, both of them know. Ancient underground though? And here she was thinking the miracle box was. Fantastic, so apparently the thing she'd been stressing and malfunctioning over was the world's best kept secret next to the location of Atlantis.

"...The miracle box." She casts a look over to the box, knowing she should have hidden it before she left the manor. Looking back at the brothers she sees their faces are perfect masks of indifference, "What else do you want to know?"

If they know about the box and its importance, and she trusts them, is there really a problem with answering a few questions. She could use any and all help available to her.

"Have you ever been propositioned or threatened by group's known as the League of Assassin's and the League of Shadows?"

"No. But I'm assuming that's where the two of you know about the box from."

"Outside of our household and your fellow heroes who else knows about the miracle box?"

"No one." Two words that normally feel so damning when she thinks of who she can turn to about box affairs, "The box's magic wipes any memory of its existence from holders when they've been renounced so even former holders don't know about it if a Guardian doesn't want them to know. The other holders barely known anything about it."

It's a sad fact, but Adrien is the only one who truly knows what the box actually is. Sure Chloe, Luka and Kagami knew that it held Miraculi, but they didn't actually know about the raw magic that needed constant containment and maintenance, or about how the box acted as a resting place for the kwamii when they didn't have a holder. Or the fact that if a miraculous was missing from the box and didn't have a holder the kwamii ran the risk of getting sick and eventually dying.

They didn't know that and Marinette didn't know _how_ to tell them without having to explain that technically Marinette was now apart of a magical order that was centuries older than most classical civilisations and as far as she and the previous Guardian were aware Marinette was the only one left.

There were life shattering bomb shells and then there was _that._

"And you're _sure_ Nettie, absolutely certain that nobody from those organizations has approached you."

"Jason," gently and cautiously (the vice was writhing again but not lashing out like it had been at the hotel) she placed her hand atop of her older brothers, "I'm sure. But the two of you are going to have explain how you know about the box."

Jason sighed, a long suffering sigh that indicated the next few minutes were going to be pretty heavy. "It started ten years ago after I died."

-*-

Marinette lay motionless on the bed in her room, body in a starfish position as she stared at the ceiling as if she could coerce it into giving her the answers she needed.

Because what the hell was going on with the world?!

Jason had _died_.

There were slightly less ancient organizations hunting down the remnants of the Order in an attempt to find out which remnant had the miracle box and use it for personal gain.

Damian had _died_.

These organizations made it 'public' knowledge within the organisation that the miracle box was a top priority and so she had to be extra cautious now because Ladybug and in turn the phrase 'miraculous' in indication to a magical item were becoming international knowledge.

_Bruce had been fucking yeeted out of the time stream and Tim had had a goddamn break down that nobody cared about till he dragged Bruce back!_

**_Jason and Damian had_ _died!??_**

If anything else it explained the vice, whatever this Lazurus Pit worked on was clearly corrupted creation magic, which would make sense why a sensitive and Ladybug holder like herself could sense it so clearly.

To be honest though the vice's were so volatile that fake sensitive might just be able to sense it if they focused enough.

She still wasn't over the fact her older brother had died, or that Damian had either. Of course at the time of his death she hadn't known him but it still horrified her to just think about the thirteen year old boy being killed.

One thing was clear though, if the Joker ever crossed paths with her, civilian or otherwise, she was going to be introducing him to reconstructive surgery and life changing injuries.

Bruce had a no killing rule, and luckily she wasn't part of Bruce's brood. And as long as she didn't use a Miraculous there was no way to associate it with her. Plus, even if she _did_ use a miraculous it'd be Trixx to cast an illusion to both give her an alibi and to make it look like it wasn't her.

Maybe she was thinking too far into this-

The ringing of Adrien's phone next to her head snapped her out of her spiralling thoughts.

"Nettie-Bug," Chloe was a welcome distraction from the storm brewing in her mind and she quickly put the call on speaker, "mind examining why **_Sabrina_** just dropped by my room with a folder of evidence against Rossi and then left with a cryptic message about looking forward to working with _you_ in the future?"

Ah, she winced thinking about how her plan wasn't perhaps the most sensitive to the Sabrina-Chloe betrayal aftermath. At the least her best friend didn't sound pissed off, just confused.

That was good at least. She wasn't too mad then.

"You said yourself that Sabrina circles the one she perceives as queen bee, and for some reason after that video got out of me rejecting the akuma she's thought that it was me."

"And so you had her collect evidence against Rossi," Chloe sounded impressed and Marinette found herself preening at the unsaid praise, "and now that the witch's empire is crumbling Sabrina is switching sides and proving her loyalty by helping knock the nails in the coffin."

"Exactly."

"You know you can't trust her. She'll drop you like hot potato if Rossi starts gaining traction again." The worry in the blonde's voice makes her melt slightly. She'd never have believed someone if they said a few years back she'd have _the_ Chloe Bourgeois worrying over her.

"But by then, my queen, the information is already gathered and Lila will know her kingdom is built upon swaying foundations."

She's certain that Chloe goes to answer but she can't hear her over the background noise, " _Ooh! Nettie's speaking in rhymes again, Nino we're gonna have to hide a body again."_

_"Not again. Net's supposed to be the positive influence this time around._ _"_

_"_ This time around...? Nettie-Bug I'm putting you on speaker hold on," the phone sounds muffled for a few second before the sound goes back to normal, "Alright, what do you two mean Nettie-Bug is supposed to be the positive influence this time around?"

If you'd also told Marinette that Nino and Kim would be causally hanging out on Chloe's hotel room a few years ago she'd most definitely of punched you because how dare you insinuate her brother's would sink so low.

"Has no one noticed? Every few years the responsible one in the group changes." She prompts the other two to answer and isn't disappointed when they do.

"Yeah, it was me for two years when we were kids, I had to take a step back because Kim and Nettie nearly burnt the school down." Nino pretends that he's annoyed but she can see the way his face is scrunching up in humour.

"Then I took over, and Nettie and _Nino_ tried to burn the school down."

"I'm still adamant that was a mistake Kim."

" _Nettie_ _you had a canister of accelerant_."

"Unimportant." She shrugs even though they can't see her, "Nino and I were so good at not being the responsible ones that we forgot about the responsibility of being the responsible one."

Chloe sighs, clearly well and truly done with their trio's antics. "And I take it Nettie-Bug has been the responsible one for so long because the two of you are also shirking your responsibilities?"

"Yep!"


End file.
